$10.2B to renew 9/11 victim fund

$10.2 billion.

That’s the estimate issued Thursday by the Congressional Budget Office for compensating the people who are still dying and sick from their exposure following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It covers the next 10 years.

The number comes just a day before the House is expected to vote to renew the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, which is running out of cash faster than expected.

The so-called CBO score is often only a formality, but many lawmakers depend on the number, especially when considering larger bills.

Advocates hailed the development and said it should clear the way for passage.

“The House should move quickly and send the bill to the Senate,” said Ben Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, a reference to the bill’s old name. It has been renamed the Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act.

Pfeifer, a firefighter who died of 9/11-linked cancer in 2017 was instrumental in passing the last 9/11 bill. Alvarez helped draw attention to the bill with his stark testimony before the House Judiciary Committee just weeks before his death last month.

The special master who oversees the Victim Compensation Fund halved all pending payouts and cut future ones 70% in February to make the money last until 2020. Of $7.4 billion set aside in 2015, just $2 billion was left, and illnesses and deaths are rising.

New funding would include over $4 billion to fill the projected shortfall and would restore cuts handed to hundreds of responders and victims.

The remaining $6 billion would fund future illness.

The CBO said while about a third of claims paid since 2011 have been for cancer, that’s jumped in the past year to half. The estimate says the percentage will rise to 80%, and cancer claims are more expensive than others — averaging about $415,000 compared to $214,000 for those involving breathing and other disorders.

The death toll also continues to rise. On Sept. 11, 2001, the attacks killed 2,977 people. Since then, 2,355 people registered in the World Trade Center health program have died. The program is separate from the VCF and is funded through 2090. The VCF would have the same span.

While estimates of people exposed to toxins from the collapsed twin towers are uncertain, officials put the number at 410,000. By 2029, with a population reduced by natural causes and 9/11 illnesses to about 265,000, CBO expects 31,000 of them will get cancer.

The House is expected to vote Friday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (RKy votes.) has pledged to advance the bill, but has not specified how. One GOP source told The News he’s likely to bring the measure directly to the floor.

President Trump has not weighed in, but seems unlikely to object.