The Wall Street Journal-20080128-Senate Weighs Changes as It Takes Up Stimulus Bill
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Senate Weighs Changes as It Takes Up Stimulus Bill
Full Text (584 words)WASHINGTON -- The House-negotiated plan to jump-start the economy heads this week into the Senate, where lawmakers who want to weigh in with their own ideas could disrupt the careful balance that got the deal this far.
The House is expected to pass tomorrow a $150 billion plan to provide tax credits and rebates to an estimated 117 million people, plus incentives for businesses to invest in new equipment and plants. The plan was negotiated between House leaders and the Bush administration, and represents a compromise for both sides. Now senators want to put forth their own ideas, which have the potential to disrupt the balance struck in the House or draw out debate.
Senate Finance Committee aides were working over the weekend to put together a proposal to consider this week. Expanded unemployment insurance appears to have a good chance of being added in the Senate. This element was dropped from the House package under a deal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) made with House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) to get tax rebates for millions of people who don't earn enough to pay income taxes.
Another change being discussed in the Senate would expand eligibility for rebates to about 20 million senior citizens who don't qualify under the House plan. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) and others on his committee have raised concerns about this group being left out because they lack the $300 in income- tax liability or $3,000 in wages required to get rebates under the House plan. Expanded eligibility would require other modifications to keep the package under the $150 billion limit.
On the Republican side of the aisle, some senators would rather not have an upper-income limit on who could receive rebates, an element of the House plan that Democrats there say is essential. In addition, many senators are pressing for expanded funding for food stamps, which was dropped in the House negotiations, as well as aid to states and spending on public-works projects. There's also a push in the Senate to expand business tax breaks, particularly to let companies carry back operating losses from this year, to gain refunds on previous tax bills.
Senators appear to favor the increase in loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the House package, as well as modifications to the Federal Housing Administration.
Both parties in the Senate are under pressure not to make too many changes or to have a lengthy debate, as all sides are committed to the goal of sending a bill to President Bush by Feb. 15.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans want to be blamed for preventing or delaying rebate checks of $300 to $1,200, plus $300 child credits, from being sent to an already expectant public. And Mr. Bush has urged Congress to pass a bill without new spending programs, in line with the House deal.
"I don't think the Senate is going to want to derail that deal," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said yesterday on "Fox News Sunday". "And I don't think the American public is going to have much patience for anything that slows down this process of getting money into our economy."
Mr. Baucus is trying to work out an agreement on a proposal with Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the panel. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) plans to bring up the Senate stimulus bill for a vote in the full Senate soon after the Finance Committee acts this week.
