Thursday, January 15, 2009

House Dems Detail $825 Bln. American Recovery & Reinvestment Plan

Jan 15: According to information posted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), "In the next two weeks, the House will consider the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which makes long-term investments that are worthy, needed, fully-screened, and based on merit, not politics. Developed with priorities shared by President-elect Obama, the plan will create or save 3 to 4 million American jobs, with an estimated 90 percent of the jobs created in the private sector -- getting the American economy moving in the short term and making investments for a stronger economy in the long term. The Chairman’s mark (draft legislation) will be circulated and posted online and next week the Ways and Means Committee, Energy and Commerce Committee, and Appropriations Committee will mark-up the legislation."

Overall the bill includes $550 billion in "strategically targeted to priority investments;" and $275 billion in targeted tax cuts to help spur economic recovery. The House Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees “Chairman’s Mark” contains targeted efforts in: Clean, Efficient, American Energy; Transforming our Economy with Science and Technology; Modernizing Roads, Bridges, Transit and Waterways; Education for the 21st Century; Tax Cuts to Make Work Pay and Create Jobs; Lowering Health Care Costs; Helping Workers Hurt by the Economy; and Saving Jobs of Teachers, Law Enforcement, and Health Workers and Protecting Vital Services.

The Clean, Efficient, American Energy portion of the bill includes: - $32 billion to transform the nation’s energy transmission, distribution, production and storage systems by allowing for a smarter and better grid to transmit renewable energy, and new advanced battery technology to power fuel-efficient, low-emissions vehicles. - More than $20 billion in tax cuts for clean, renewable energy including a new enhanced tax credit for research and development focusing on smart energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy, and a multi-year extension of the production tax credit for wind, hydro, geothermal, and bioenergy. - $16 billion to repair public housing and make key energy efficiency retrofits. - $6 billion to weatherize modest-income homes.

Under the Modernize Roads, Bridges, Transit and Waterways section, the bill includes: $32 billion in transportation, of which $30 billion is for highway construction (every dollar of highway investments creates more than 34,000 jobs); $31 billion to modernize federal and other public infrastructure with investments that lead to long term energy cost savings; $19 billion for clean water, flood control, and environmental restoration investments; and $10 billion for transit and rail to reduce traffic congestion and gas consumption.

According to a summary, the draft includes "Unprecedented Accountability: An historic level of transparency, oversight and accountability will help guarantee taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and ensure that Americans can see the results of their investment. There are no earmarks or pet projects."

Access a release from the Speaker including links to a summary from the Appropriations Committee; a summary of the tax provisions from the Ways and Means Committee; a summary in the Current Legislation section; the draft legislation and the explanation
report (click here).

UPDATE:

January 23: Senate Democrats Detail Their Version Of A Stimulus Package - Access the complete 7-page summary of the Senate Appropriations Committee piece of the stimulus package issued on January 23, (click here).

UPDATES:

January 26: House To Formally Introduce Stimulus Bill, H.R. 1 - Access the full text of the House bill (click here). Access the Speakers links (click here). Access legislative details for H.R. 1 (click here).

Jan 27: Senate Finance Committee Approves $522 Billion Piece Of Stimulus - Access a release and 10-page summary of the Senate Finance Committee markup (
click here). Access links to additional details on the Senate Finace Committee's markup (click here).


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