house vs. senate stimulus plans

A comparison of the Senate's $827 billion economic recovery plan with a $820 billion version passed by the House. Additional debt costs would add about $350 billion or more over 10 years. Many provisions expire in two years.

Senate: $47 billion to provide extended unemployment benefits through Dec. 31, increased by $25 a week, and provide job training; $16.5 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 12 percent through fiscal 2011 and issue a one-time bonus payment; $3 billion in temporary welfare payments.

House: Comparable extension of unemployment insurance; $20 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 14 percent; $2.5 billion in temporary welfare payments; $1 billion for home heating subsidies and $1 billion for community action agencies.

Senate: $17 billion to give one-time $300 payments to Social Security recipients, poor people on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and veterans receiving disability and pensions.

House: $4 billion to provide a one-time additional SSI payments to poor elderly and disabled people of $450 for individuals, $630 for couples.

Senate: $46 billion for transportation projects, including $27 billion for highway and bridge construction and repair and $11.5 billion for mass transit and rail projects; $4.6 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers; $5 billion for public housing improvements; $6.4 billion for clean and drinking water projects.

House: $47 billion for transportation projects, including $27 billion for highway and bridge construction and repair and $12 billion for mass transit, including $7.5 billion to buy transit equipment such as buses; $31 billion to build and repair federal buildings and other public infrastructures; $12.4 billion in rail and mass transit projects.

House: $40 billion to subsidize COBRA or provide health care through Medicaid; $87 billion to help states with Medicaid; $20 billion to modernize technology systems; $4 billion for preventative care; $1.5 billion for community health centers; $420 million to combat avian flu; $335 million for programs that combat AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis.

Senate: $79 billion in state fiscal relief to prevent cuts; $25 billion to school districts to fund special education and the No Child Left Behind law; $14 billion to boost the maximum Pell Grant to $5,250; $1.1 billion for Head Start.

House: Similar aid to states and school districts; $21 billion for school modernization; $16 billion to boost the maximum Pell Grant to $5,350; $2 billion for Head Start.

Senate: About $40 billion focused chiefly on efficiency and renewable energy, including $2.9 billion to weatherize modest-income homes; $4.6 billion for fossil fuel research and development; $6.4 billion to clean up nuclear weapons production sites; $11 billion toward a so-called "smart electricity grid"; $8.5 billion to subsidize loans for renewable energy projects; and $2 billion for advanced battery systems.

House: $28.4 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, including $6.2 billion to weatherize homes; $11 billion for "smart electricity grid."

House: Comparable provision.

House: About $145 billion for $500 per-worker, $1,000 per-couple tax credits in 2009 and 2010. For the last half of 2009, workers could expect to see about $20 a week less withheld from their paychecks starting around June. Those who don't make enough money to pay federal income taxes could file returns next year and receive checks. Individuals making more than $75,000 and couples making more than $150,000 would receive reduced amounts.

Senate: The credit would phase out (and more quickly) at incomes of $70,000 for individuals and more than $140,000 for couples, reducing the cost to $140 billion.

House: $18.3 billion to give greater access to the $1,000 per-child tax credit for the working poor in 2009 and 2010. Under current law, workers must make at least $12,550 to receive any portion of the credit. The change eliminates the floor.

Senate: Sets a new income threshold of $8,100, reducing the cost to $7.5 billion.

Senate: Same.

House: $13.7 billion to provide a $2,500 expanded tax credit for college tuition and related expenses for 2009 and 2010. The credit is phased out for couples making more than $160,000.

Senate: Reduces the amount that can be refunded to low-income families that pay no income taxes, lowering the cost to $13 billion.

House: $2.6 billion to repeal a requirement that a $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit be paid back over time for homes purchased from Jan. 1 to July 1, unless the home is sold within three years. The credit is phased out for couples making more than $150,000.

Senate: Doubles the credit to $15,000 for homes purchased for a year after the bill takes effect, increasing the cost to $35.5 billion.

Senate: Same.

House: No similar provision.

Senate: $4.7 billion to exclude from taxation the first $2,400 a person receives in unemployment benefits in 2009.

House: $15 billion to allow companies to use current losses to offset profits made in the previous five years, instead of two.

Senate: Allows companies to use more of their losses to offset previous profits, increasing the cost to $19.5 billion.

Senate: Delays law until 2012, reducing the cost to $291 million.

House: $13 billion in tax credits for renewable energy production.

Senate: Same.

House: $36 billion to subsidize locally issued bonds for school construction, teacher training, economic development and infrastructure improvements.

Senate: $22.8 billion to subsidize all such locally issued bonds except those for economic development.