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Speaker Pelosi Releases Highlights of Final Economic Stimulus Package
Thursday, February 12, 2009
4:10 PM |
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA) has released highlights of the final economic
stimulus package aimed at
jumpstarting the economy and creating 3.5
million jobs.
Based on preliminary
information, the bill would provide $30 billion
for various energy-efficient initiatives such
as a new "Smart Grid Investment Program" and
advanced battery technology for automobiles via
loans and grants. The speaker's office
estimates that these programs will create a
half million jobs. The legislation also
contains a three-year extension of the
production tax credit (PTC) for electricity
derived from wind, biomass, and geothermal
technologies.
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Individuals would receive a
tax credit of up to $7,500 for purchasing
plug-in hybrid vehicles. Five billion dollars
in tax credits would go to extending and
expanding energy-efficient investments in
homes, including furnaces, windows, doors, and
insulation. Other provisions of the final
stimulus bill -- according to Speaker Pelosi's
office -- include:
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EDUCATION, CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT
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Establishes a $53.6
billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund,
including $40.6 billion to local school
districts using existing
funding formulas. These funds can be used for
preventing cutbacks, preventing layoffs, school
modernization,
or other purposes. |
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$5 billion to states as
bonus grants for meeting key performance
measures in
education. |
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$8 billion to states for other
high priority needs such as public safety and
other critical
services, which may include education. |
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Increases the higher education tax credit
to a maximum of $2,500. |
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Increases the maximum Pell Grant by $500,
for a maximum of $5,350 in 2009 and
$5,550 in 2010. |
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$200 million in additional funding for the College Work-Study program. |
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$1.1 billion for Early Head Start and $1
billion for Head Start. |
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$2 billion for the Child Care Development
Block Grant to provide child care
services. |
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$12.2 billion for grants for IDEA
(Special Education) to increase the
federal share of these costs. |
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$13 billion for Title I grants. |
ENERGY
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Provides for renewable energy bonds for State and
local governments. |
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$6.3 billion for increasing energy
efficiency in federally-supported housing
programs. |
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$3 billion for the National Science
Foundation for basic research in
fundamental science and engineering. |
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$1.6 billion for the Department of
Energy's Office of Science for research into climate science, biofuels,
high-energy physics, nuclear physics and
fusion energy sciences. |
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$400 million for the Advanced Research
Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to
support high-risk,
high-payoff research into energy sources and
energy efficiency in collaboration with
industry. |
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$580 million for the National Institute
of Standards and Technology, including
the Technology
Innovation Program and the Manufacturing
Extension Partnership. |
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$8.5 billion for NIH, including expanding
good jobs in biomedical research to study
diseases
such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, and
heart disease. |
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$1 billion for NASA, including $400
million to hire more scientists for
climate
change research. |
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$1.5 billion for NIH to renovate
university research facilities and help
them compete for
biomedical research grants. |
HEALTH CARE
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Estimated $87 billion over the next two
years in additional federal matching
funds to help states maintain their
Medicaid programs. |
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Sixty percent subsidy for COBRA premiums
for up to 9 months. |
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$1 billion for a new Prevention and
Wellness Fund. |
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$1.1 billion for comparative
effectiveness research aimed at helping
patients and doctors determine the
effectiveness of different treatments. |
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
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$7 billion for extending broadband
services to underserved communities. |
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$19 billion to accelerate adoption of
Health Information Technology (HIT)
systems by doctors and hospitals. |
INFRASTRUCTURE
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$29 billion for modernizing roads and
bridges (estimated to create 835,000 jobs).
Requires states to obligate at least half
of the highway/bridge funding within 120
days. |
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$8.4 billion for investments in transit
and $8 billion for investment in
high-speed rail. |
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$18 billion for clean water, flood
control, and environmental restoration
investments (estimated to create more than 375,000 jobs). |
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$4.5 billion to make federal office
buildings more energy-efficient. |
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$5 billion to make improvements in Department
of Defense
facilities, including
housing for military personnel. |
TAX
BREAKS
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"Making Work Pay" - Provides a refundable
tax credit of up to $400 per individual
and $800 per couple filing jointly,
phased out at $200,000 for couples filing
jointly and $100,000 for single filers. |
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Expands the child tax credit to allow
families to begin qualifying for the
child tax credit with every dollar earned
over $3,000. |
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Extends the current "patch" to the
alternative minimum tax for another year. |
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Provides tax incentives to buy new cars,
including light trucks and SUVs, with a
tax deduction for State and
local sales taxes paid on the purchase. |
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Temporarily suspends the taxation of some
unemployment benefits. |
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Boosts the current tax credit for first-time
homebuyers. |
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Allows for small business expensing for
investment in new plants and equipment,
loss carryback for small businesses, a
delay of the three percent
withholding tax on payments to businesses that
sell goods or services to governments, and a
cut in the
capital gains tax cut for investors in small
businesses who hold stock for more than five
years. |
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Extends the bonus depreciation
and increased small business expensing for
businesses making investments in plants and
equipment in
2009. |
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© Copyright
Capitol Hill Reports, Inc. (2009). No claim to original government
works.
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