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The final (conference) version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1) totals $787 billion in spending and tax cuts over the period of 2009-2019.[1] (The earlier House version totaled $819 billion, while the Senate version totaled $838 billion.[1]) Lawmakers had estimated the cost of the final package to be $789 billion, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the plan would cost a total of $787 billion and increase the federal deficit by $185 billion this year and by $399 billion next year.[1]

Contents 1 Spending 2 Tax cuts 3 Bill passage 3.1 House 3.2 Senate 3.3 Conference 3.4 Bill becomes law 4 Articles and resources 4.1 See also 4.2 References 4.3 External resources 4.4 External articles

Spending

The bill provides an estimated $575 billion in appropriations and direct spending. This includes: ^{[1] [1]}

• Direct aid to people affected by economic downturn
  • Increase unemployment benefits by $25 per week
  • Increase food stamp benefits by 13 percent per month
  • 60 percent subsidy for up to nine months for those laid off to help cover price of continuing coverage of health care under COBRA
  • $4 billion for job training
• Health care
  • $87 billion in expanded Medicaid coverage to the poor
  • $19 billion for updating health information technology
• Education
  • $500 increase in maximum Pell Grants (to $5,350 in 2009 and $5,550 in 2010) for low-income students
  • $54 billion to states and local school districts
  • $12 billion for special education
  • $1 billion for Head Start
• Infrastructure
  • $29 billion to modernize roads and bridges
  • $18 billion for clean water, flood control and environmental restoration
  • $8.4 billion for transit
  • $8 billion for high-speed rail
  • $7 billion to expand broadband coverage, mostly in rural areas
  • $5 billion to improve Defense Department facilities, including housing for troops
  • $4.5 billion to make federal office buildings more energy-efficient
• Energy
  • $30 billion to update power grid
  • $6.3 billion to improve energy efficiency in federally-assisted multifamily housing
  • $5 billion to weatherize low-income homes

Tax cuts

The bill provides an estimated $212 billion in tax cuts, including: ^{[1] [1]}

• One-time payment of $250 to those who receive Social Security or government disability
• Tax credit of up to $400 for individuals who earn less than $75,000 per year, and up to $800 for families who earn less than $150,000 per year
• $8,000 credit for first-time home buyers if home purchased between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009
• Tax credit of $2,500 for higher education
• Tax credit of up to $1,500 for homeowners who make homes more energy efficient
• Car buyers can deduct sales tax from taxable income if car purchased in 2009
• 24 million people exempted from Alternative Minimum Tax in 2009
• Earned Income Tax Credit expanded to low-income families - that pay no taxes - with three or more children
• Expansion of $1,000 per child tax credit to more low-income families
• The remainder of the tax cuts are geared toward business, with about $20 billion for renewable energy tax credits

The bill also included provisions that would cap executive pay at $500,000, limit bonuses, and eliminate "golden parachutes" at any bank receiving federal money.^[1]

Bill passage

House

The House took up consideration of H.R. 1 on January 27, 2009 and proceeded to makes changes to the original proposal. Among the modifications were:

• The removal of a provision to increase Medicaid family planning coverage. Republicans argued that the provision did not qualify as economic stimulus.^[1]
• The removal of $200 million in proposed spending to renovate the National Mall.^[1]
• An amendment sponsored by Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) increasing funding for mass transit by $3 billion, which passed on a voice vote.^[1][1]

The House also rejected the following three amendments:

• An amendment by Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) that would have stricken out all of the appropriations measures from the bill.^[1] This amendment was defeated by a vote of 302-134.

• An amendment by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) that would have taken out funding for Amtrak.^[1] This amendment was defeated by a vote of 320-116.

• An amendment by Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) in the form of a substitute that proposed an economic package consisting mainly of tax breaks.^[1][1] This amendment was defeated by a vote of 266-170.

The amended bill passed the House on January 28, 2009 by a vote of 244-188. No Republican voted in favor of the bill.

Same for all scorecards:

• Name of bill: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
• Chamber: U.S. Senate
• Roll call number: 47
• Congress number: 111th
• Session number: 1
• Vote link: U.S. Senate record vote 47, 111th Congress, Session 1

Scored vote
Scorecard: American Civil Liberties Union 2008 Senate Scorecard	Org. position: Nay
Description: "On February 5, 2009, the Senate defeated an amendment offered by Senator DeMint (R-SC) that would have removed religious liberty protections from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1) by a vote of 54-43. The ACLU opposed the DeMint Amendment because it was at stark odds with the Constitution's Establishment Clause, as well as Supreme Court precedent. It would have removed a provision from the economic stimulus bill that reinforces constitutional protections by prohibiting the government from providing "green-building" federal funds for the construction or repair of buildings used for worship or other religious purposes." (Original scorecard available at: http://action.aclu.org/site/VoteCenter?page=voteList)

Senate

The Senate received H.R. 1 on January 29, 2009 and proceeded to develop its own version of the legislation. After a week of discussions and amendments increased the size of the bill to an estimated $900 billion, negotiations began to center on a group of Senators, led by Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who sought to make $100 billion in cuts to the proposal.^[1] An agreement was eventually announced on February 6, 2009.^[1] The following day an amended version of the bill, co-sponsored by Senators Collins and Nelson, was introduced in the Senate.^[1]

Cloture was invoked on the Collins-Nelson amendment on February 9, 2009 by a vote of 61-37.

Two more votes were required to pass the Collins-Nelson version of the bill. Both took place on February 10, 2009. First, the Senate voted to waive pay-as-you-go budget rules with respect to the amendment by a vote of 61-37.

Finally, the Senate passed the amended bill by a vote of 61-37, sending it into conference with the House.

Conference

After a day of intense negotiations, House and Senate leaders came to an agreement on February 11, 2009.^[1] A few additional changes were made on February 12, 2009, after which the text of the final version of the bill was posted online at 10:45 p.m.^[1] The negotiations reduced the size of the bill to $787 billion, smaller than either the House or the Senate versions.^[1][1]

Both chambers passed the conference version of the bill on February 13, 2009.

In the House, the vote was 246-183. As in the first House vote, no Republican voted for the bill.

The Senate voted first to waive pay-as-you-go budget rules by a tally of 60-38.

Then the Senate approved final passage of the bill by the same margin of 60-38.

Bill becomes law

President Obama signed the bill into law on February 17, 2009.^[1]

Articles and resources

See also

References

External resources

• "Times Topics: Economic Stimulus," NYTimes.com
• "ShovelWatch"
• "The Stimulus Bills: House vs. Senate", ProPublica, February 10, 2009.
• "State-by-State Breakdown of the Economic Stimulus Plan?", ProPublica, February 17, 2009.

External articles