Wednesday, January 28 the House of Representatives passed President Obama's economic stimulus legislation, entitled H.R. 1 The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act, on a roll call vote with 224 Democrats and 0 Republicans voting in favor. So much for bipartisanship. The 224 to 188 vote along party lines is probably a preview of what will happen when the Senate votes next week.
H.R. 1 includes spending of $550 billion and tax relief of $275 billion for a total economic stimulus of $825 billion. At present the Senate bills are still undergoing committee markups, with the likely outcome in the Senate including $515 billion in spending and $375 billion in tax relief, for a total package of $880 billion. The Conference Committee reconciliation version which ultimately goes to President Obama could increase to over a trillion dollars in economic stimulus.
As they now stand, both packages include over $150 billion for the construction industry.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has already reported out its portion of the Senate package, including appropriations of $365.6 billion. The Senate Finance Committee has approved its portion of the package, which has $375 billion in tax cuts, including a $70 billion patch to the alternative minimum tax which the House left out of its version, and expanded spending for unemployment benefits, Medicaid, health insurance for laid off workers, and $18 billion to switch Medicare to electronic recordkeeping.
Amendments may be offered on the Senate floor regarding the distribution of Medicaid payments, and reduction of the bottom two income tax brackets.
Fortunately, it looks like any further changes in the construction appropriations are more likely to be increases rather than decreases.
H.R. 1 includes spending of $550 billion and tax relief of $275 billion for a total economic stimulus of $825 billion. At present the Senate bills are still undergoing committee markups, with the likely outcome in the Senate including $515 billion in spending and $375 billion in tax relief, for a total package of $880 billion. The Conference Committee reconciliation version which ultimately goes to President Obama could increase to over a trillion dollars in economic stimulus.
As they now stand, both packages include over $150 billion for the construction industry.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has already reported out its portion of the Senate package, including appropriations of $365.6 billion. The Senate Finance Committee has approved its portion of the package, which has $375 billion in tax cuts, including a $70 billion patch to the alternative minimum tax which the House left out of its version, and expanded spending for unemployment benefits, Medicaid, health insurance for laid off workers, and $18 billion to switch Medicare to electronic recordkeeping.
Amendments may be offered on the Senate floor regarding the distribution of Medicaid payments, and reduction of the bottom two income tax brackets.
Fortunately, it looks like any further changes in the construction appropriations are more likely to be increases rather than decreases.
