Here in New Jersey, survivors of another destructive storm are hoping relief is finally on the way.

More than three years later, for a second time, lawmakers are introducing a bill to provide mortgage relief for families affected by Hurricane Ida.

We reported on the original bill's passage, only to be met with Governor Murphy's veto pen requesting tweaks to that legislation.

Well, senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan today heard testimony from Ida survivors who are running out of time and money and explains the one item lawmakers didn't change in the bill.

My heart breaks again and again.

Survivors of Ida from three years ago who turned up in Trenton yet again to ask lawmakers for help after Governor Murphy vetoed their relief bill, say they relived their own trauma this weekend.

Watching folks in North Carolina flee Hurricane Helen's catastrophic floods.

They know what grueling recovery lies ahead, both financial and emotional.

Because you've lived it and you feel like you're living it again with people that you don't even know.

They don't know what's coming.

They don't.

And and I just hope that there is more support there than we have seen as Hurricane Ida survivors in New Jersey.

You know, we're stranded, we're struggling.

And it's not something that most people budget for in their life.

The small group from towns devastated by Ida spoke before the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee, backing a newly revised bill that would put their mortgage payments on hold for a year.

I have dental bills.

I have medical bills.

I have all kinds of other bills.

On top of learning how to budget.

Recovering from a flood.

My kids are still worried about whether we're going to die.

Whether our home will be ruined again every time it rains.

I urge you to pass this bill to ease our financial burden so we can focus on our emotional recovery.

Trenton lawmakers back in June unanimously passed a bill that would have given Ida survivors a one year break from mortgage payments and protection from foreclosure.

But Governor Murphy conditionally vetoed it, fearing fraud, he wrote.

The governor wanted applicants to meet stricter rules to be eligible.

Requirements so stringent advocates claimed few, if any, homeowners would even qualify.

Particularly those living in Manville, Lost Valley who have no viable options besides a Blue Acres buyout.

I have to because I still got water in my property.

When it rains, I still, you know, struggle with what am I going to pay this month?

Am I going to pay the mortgage or am I going to clean up the basement?

Ironically, we've been here before.

I mean, we've done legislation like this with Superstorm Sandy ten years ago where they didn't have all this bureaucratic, steps to go on.

People were able to get the resources that they needed.

It's like Groundhog Day here that I keep having to do this bill.

Senator Troy Singleton revised his original bill to address the governor's concerns.

So Jersey's Department of Community Affairs would vet all applications through a new online portal.

As Murphy proposed, however, Singleton's stopped short of restricting claims only to folks who participated in just two very specific aid programs.

Instead, he opened eligibility to homeowners who received federal disaster assistance for needs related to Ida damage in their primary residence.

He's working with the governor's office.

Surprises are not things I'm a big fan of, and we are hopeful that because of these conversations have happened in earnest, that there is sufficient light at the end of the tunnel for us to move forward.

Lawmakers on the Senate panel, Democrats and Republicans, unanimously supported the bill.

As a mayor who went through Superstorm Sandy.

It's very, very important that we support our homeowners.

And I vote yes to have been a victim of major floods, lost everything.

Like you said, you can't plan for this.

And I'm I'm actually glad it came up today so that we can make sure that it is passed.

I, too, don't know why we're even here redoing this bill, but I was say yes last time.

I'm an absolute yes this time and I look forward to us finally concluding this journey.

Again, my vote is yes.

Bills passed.

Singleton said there will be some changes to the bill as it moves forward, but nothing material to its integrity or intent, which is to make sure that all people get the relief that they need.

At the Statehouse in Trenton, I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.