Tuesday afternoon, February 10, the Senate passed the Nelson-Collins version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by a vote of 61-37. As expected, Senators Collins, Snowe and Specter crossed the aisle to support the measure. The Congressional Budget Office prices the Senate version at $838.2 billion, somewhat more than both the House version costs, at $819 billion, and the cap Collins, Snowe and Specter say they will accept in a final bill, at $800 billion.
House and Senate conferees to be named will meet as soon as possible in efforts to hammer out the differences between the two versions of this legislation, in hopes of presenting an agreed bill on the floor of both houses Friday for a final vote, before the recess scheduled to begin Saturday.
The most contentious issues to be faced by the conference committee are:
SPENDING:
School construction funds of $20.1 billion, completely gutted in the Senate.
State fiscal stabilization appropriations which the Senate cut severely.
TAXES
Alternative Minimum tax patch added by the Senate.
Full repeal of the 3% tax on government contractors.
The Senate added "golf cart" tax credit.
OTHER
E-verify requirement.
H-1B visa ban for TARP recipients.
Buy American requirements.
Broadband open access requirements.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer have both promised to keep Congress in session until a bill is sent over to the Oval Office for signature. Meanwhile, President Obama takes Air Force One from one economically depressed community to another, stumping in support of quick passage of the package.
If you are interested in perusing the text of the 778 page Senate version of this legislation, you can find a link to it at the lower right hand corner of the front page of my website:
James G. McConnell - Home.
