There is bipartisan backing in Congress for an economic stimulus package, but the plan’s size and shape is not clear. The House on Jan. 29 approved a $146-billion stimulus bill, which President Bush supports. But the Senate Finance Committee is developing a competing plan that would go beyond the House’s provisions. Neither the House nor Senate Finance plan has any public-works funds, but industry officials are trying to squeeze infrastructure money into the final legislation.
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Jan. 28 proposed an estimated $155-billion stimulus measure that would extend unemployment insurance benefits for 13 weeks and allow businesses losing money in the economic downturn to write off losses retroactively for as many as five years. “The White House says we mustn’t slow the economic stimulus agreement down or blow it up,” Baucus says. “I agree. We’re going to improve it and get it passed right away.”