Senate to vote on $50.5 billion Hurricane Sandy aid bill Monday

Victims of Hurricane Sandy may finally get aid they need, as the Senate has set a vote on the $50.5 billion assistance package for Monday. 

The late October storm devastated New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and the region's lawmakers say that the aid is urgently needed to continue to the recovery process for one of the worst storms to hit the Northeastern United States in years, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

The bill passed in the House last week, and will go through the Senate in two votes, each requiring a vote of 60 to be approved and sent to President Obama for his signature, Politico reported. 

An initial aid package passed through the Senate December 28, but House Speaker John Boehner pulled the bill suddenly and let it die in the last days of Congress' 2012 session, according to Politico. 

"This failure to come to the aid of Americans following a severe and devastating natural disaster is unprecedented," New Jersey Governor Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wrote in a joint statement at the time, CNN reported.

"The fact that days continue to go by while people suffer, families are out of their homes, and men and women remain jobless and struggling during these harsh winter months is a dereliction of duty," they added. 

Sandy caused at least 140 deaths and billions of dollars in damage to both residential and business properties throughout the Northeast, the Associated Press reported.

Over 80 percent of the aid budget is marked as emergency funding and is safe from budget cuts, but the package may see as much as $2.5 billion cut in March, Politico reported. 

More from GlobalPost: House fails to vote on hurricane relief bill, delays aid by weeks