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House Leaders Tee Up Economic Stimulus Package
Thursday, January 22, 2009
11:45 PM |
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House
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced this evening that the
chamber will vote on the $825 billion economic stimulus legislation --
formally called the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" -- on
Wednesday, Jan. 28. "I anticipate that Congress will send a final
bill to President Obama before President's Day," Hoyer said in a
statement.
Since the stimulus package addresses tax, entitlement, and
discretionary spending policies, three House committees -- Ways &
Means, Energy & Commerce, and Appropriations -- considered the
sections of the bill that fell within each panel's jurisdiction
throughout the week. The sections approved by the three committees
will be consolidated into one bill that is expected to be introduced
as H.R. 1 tomorrow. |
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As the full House debates the stimulus package
next week, the Senate Finance and Appropriations
Committees are expected to craft the tax and
discretionary spending provisions, respectively. In
light of the Congressional Budget Office's
estimate that more than half of the $550
billion in spending items would not be released
into the economy until 2011 or later, key Senate
lawmakers are looking to tweak the language in
order to get the money out as quickly as possible. |
Republicans have targeted CBO's spending
projections as a primary concern with the
legislation along with asserting that the bill's
massive price tag is not receiving a full vetting.
"CBO reported this week that the congressional
Democrats' plan wouldn't have any real impact for
years," House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
said during a press briefing today. "And so I
believe that my colleagues on the Republican side
need to be heard in this process. Our plan offers
fast-acting tax relief, not slow-moving and
wasteful government spending."
Speaking on CBO's estimate that as little as
seven percent of the bill's total outlays for
shovel-ready infrastructure projects will occur in
2009, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) countered
that these figures were based on incomplete data.
"Some of the leadership of the Congressional Budget
Office met with [House Transportation Chairman
Oberstar (D-MN)] yesterday and admitted that they
did not have the full data on which to base their
projection," Pelosi said during a press conference
today. "And it is rejected by almost every other
independent analysis of what the bill will do."
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| Yesterday, a group of Republicans sent a letter to the
White House requesting a meeting with President Obama on the stimulus package.
That meeting is expected to occur early next week. In the meantime, House and
Senate leaders from both parties will meet with the president "to discuss the
progress that we've made on a plan to put millions of people back to work,"
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today. |
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