The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), first enacted in 1990, is slated to sunset Friday.
The law authorizes one-time payments to those impacted by U.S. nuclear tests and also provides cancer screenings to affected communities.
If the law is not renewed, additional people will not be able to have their claims processed, and advocates have warned that the screenings for impacted communities could also cease.
The Senate passed legislation in March that not only extended the law, but also expanded benefits to historically excluded communities.
However, the issue has divided Republicans, who have yet to reach an agreement.
Some Republicans, including those from Missouri — which could see benefits under an expansion – push for widening benefits to more people.
But others balked at the cost of doing so.
And, as the clock ticked forward this week, the party remained discordant, and so the House recessed without taking up the legislation.
“You saw some of my colleagues express their concern about what was left out,” of a narrower proposal, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told The Hill this week. “There’s not a consensus on where to go from here.”
“There are a lot of issues like that, that we’re still working through,” he added.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
