For Karen Nickel, reviving and expanding the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was bittersweet.
Nickel and Dawn Chapman were part of Just Moms STL, a group that's been raising awareness and seeking restitution for Manhattan Project-era nuclear waste that spread throughout parts of the St. Louis region. After an arduous and frustrating legislative path, the act was part of a massive budgetary package that President Donald Trump signed into law.
The program, which was dormant since 2024, now includes ZIP codes throughout the St. Louis region for the first time. At a press conference in Hazelwood on Tuesday, Nickel said she was thrilled with the outcome but also cognizant of people who died before its passage.
"I've carried this fight in my heart and in my bones for over a decade, and honestly, there were times I didn't know if we'd make it. But here we are," Nickel said. "Families will now be compensated. There will be more education and outreach than ever before – and the ability to get health screenings that will provide early detection and help prevent some of these cancers."
The Department of Justice is slated to soon offer a form for people to sign up for benefits. That could include a $50,000 lump-sum payment for people who became sick or reimbursements of out-of-pocket health care expenses. Family members of people who died could also receive $25,000.
"No amount of money is enough. But you know what? This will save lives," Chapman said. "The $50,000 included in this, the medical reimbursements – they're going to give people a chance to fight back. We've been punched by our government. This radioactive waste that's just sitting on the surface behind us continues to attack us. We have a way to fight back now, for the first time ever."
Chantelle Jones is a former Missouri state lawmaker who's had breast cancer twice, while many people in her family either died or became sick with illnesses associated with radiation exposure.
Jones said the program's expansion into the region validates advocates who said for decades that contamination in places like Coldwater Creek led to widespread sickness and death.
"We say this out loud that the truth never left us," Jones said. "It just waited for justice to catch up."
Hawley cites bipartisan push for passage
Missouri Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley teamed up with New Mexico Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan to expand the compensation program to Missouri, as well as a number of other states.
"My philosophy from the beginning was I want to get RECA put on anything that's moving," Hawley said Tuesday.
During the press conference, Hawley noted how lots of congressional observers questioned whether he'd ever be successful in expanding the program. He managed to get an expansion passed twice in the Senate, only for those efforts to falter in the House. Some critics of Hawley's push contended the program's expansion was too costly.
But Hawley said he got a commitment from Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota to include the program in the budget legislation widely known as the "Big Beautiful Bill."
"We worked on that together, and I knew, by golly, that thing is going to move and it's going to pass both houses," Hawley said. "So I was delighted to have it on there."
In some respects, efforts to expand and revive the program cobbled together an unusual political coalition.
Backers of the proposal included conservative Republican House members, such as Arizona U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, and liberal Democrats like former Congresswoman Cori Bush of St. Louis County. Hawley praised Bush during the press conference for helping keep the program alive in the House.
Supporters also included members of the Navajo Nation, whose family members worked and lived close to uranium mines throughout the country.
"This was a bipartisan effort," said Buu Nygren, president of the Navajo Nation. "It was about doing what's right for communities that have fought for this nation and gave all the resources that they can so that we can continue to make sure that we live in a very safe, safe country."
Maggie Billiman, who lives in Arizona, spoke at the press conference in Hazelwood. Her father, who died of cancer, was part of the Navajo Code Talkers who played a key role in World War II.
"All our effort seemed to fail, but we all didn't give up," Billiman said. "When we heard RECA was passed, we cried for happiness."
Hawley said he'll continue to push to expand the program, including to parts of the Metro East.
"The fight continues," Hawley said. "There are other communities that should be included. There are other regions that need to be covered."
Hawley hopes to stop Medicaid cuts
Hawley faced criticism for supporting the budgetary package that included radiation compensation.
Hawley wrote an op-ed for the New York Times urging his party not to pursue cuts to Medicaid. But the package that Trump signed sharply curbed medical provider taxes that states like Missouri use to pay for the health care program.
Health care experts warned that curbing the tax will prompt states to either take money from needs like education, reduce payments to hospitals or scale back coverage.
Hawley pointed to two changes made before the budget bill went to Trump: a $50 billion fund aimed at helping rural hospitals and pushing back when the medical provider tax curbs begin to go into effect.
He said that he'll work with his colleagues to prevent medical provider taxes from being capped at 3.5% by 2032. Currently, Missouri's tax is at 4.2% – but it's gone as high as close to 6%.
"I'll do everything I can between now and then to make sure that there are no cuts that ever take effect to Missouri hospitals," said Hawley, who added that the state could see close to $1 billion from the rural hospital fund.
The bill includes requirements for Medicaid recipients to show that they're working, in school or doing community services. Hawley has said for months he supports these requirements, though critics of the plan contend they'll lead to scores of people losing access to Medicaid.
U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, D-St. Louis County, voted against the budgetary package that included the radiation compensation authorization. He said during the press conference "there are some concerns and issues that many of us have with this budgetary bill."
But he said getting the compensation plan passed and expanded is genuinely good for the St. Louis region, adding, "We're all grown-ups here, and you're not going to always get everything you want."
"[Sen. Hawley and I] don't always agree on everything," Bell said. "But when we do agree on something that is benefiting this region, we're going to work together."
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