The economic stimulus legislation has become a partisan battle between
the proposal sponsored by Senator Baucus (D-MT) which invests in low
income children and families and newly unemployed workers and the House
plan which primarily targets new spending for corporate tax cuts and
wealthy individuals.
On November 8, the Senate Finance Committee approved the Baucus
stimulus plan on a party-line vote. It includes tax rebates for the 34 million
low income working families who did not receive the full rebate sent to
most Americans this summer; slightly expanded Unemployment Insurance
(UI) improvements including using most recent wages and covering those
persons seeking part-time work, and extending and increasing UI benefits;
and health care coverage for newly unemployed workers and their
families through Medicaid and COBRA subsidies. The Baucus plan also includes a
number of temporary business relief provisions and tax incentives for
New York City and other distressed areas. The full Senate will debate
the Baucus plan the week of November 12th.
In contrast, the stimulus plan approved by the House includes the tax
rebates for low-income workers, but does not provide UI for recently
hired workers who have become unemployed (such as former welfare
recipients) or expand Medicaid and COBRA support to help newly unemployed
workers gain health coverage. Instead, the House plan provides major new tax
cuts for large corporations, reduces the capital gains tax rate and
accelerates the tax cuts for upper income individuals passed earlier this
year.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your Senators and Representatives and urge
them to support a final economic stimulus plan that will help low income
children and families through tax rebates, UI improvements and health
coverage. You can learn who your Senators and Representatives are and
send them an email through the CDF Action Council website at:
http://capwiz.com/cdf/dbq/officials/ . You can also call them through
the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.