The final version of the $787.2 billion economic-stimulus plan was approved Friday afternoon by the House, and was headed for likely passage in the Senate later in the evening.
The legislation passed the House by a margin of 246 to 183, with one member, Bill Lipinski (D-Ill.) voting “present.”
All House Republicans voted against the bill. Last time around, 11 Democrats also voted against the bill, but only eight voted against it this time. The leadership picked up support from Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) and Frank Kratovil (D-Md.).
A final vote was expected in the Senate on Friday night. A 60-vote majority is needed for the bill to be approved.
The House took “swift, bold action” with the passage of the bill, said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “I was voting not just for myself and the people of my district, but for all Americans who want us to fulfill the promise” of what President Obama has been saying since he was inaugurated in terms of re-starting the economy.
The final stimulus plan is a slimmer version of earlier plans, but Republicans feel it is still too light on tax cuts and too heavy on projects that won’t directly stimulate the economy.
Highlights of the 1,071-page bill include measures to spend about $116 billion on tax credits in 2009 and 2010 and $70 billion to prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax from hitting 24 million Americans in 2009. On the spending side, the stimulus will allot $50 billion to energy programs, $48 to infrastructure programs and $40 billion to extend and increase unemployment benefits.
Also buried in the bill is language relaxing early-repayment rules for financial institutions that borrowed from TARP. According to the terms, the Treasury Secretary will allow TARP-funded banks to repay their loans without replacing funding from a private source. The current Treasury term sheet requires TARP-funded banks to raise private capital to replace federal funding if they are to repay early.
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