House to vote on stimulus package

Education, infrastructure and mortgage relief are all major issues.

By Anthony Gotelli IV and Greg Young

Published Jan. 26, 2009

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Democrats' proposed $825 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Wednesday.

Higher education has been targeted for a little more than $22 billion of the proposed funds including $6 billion for construction, renovation and modernization of facilities, as well as providing $15.6 billion to increase Pell Grants that help students pay for college.

The package also triples the number of fellowships for science to spur American innovation in the fields of science and technology.

With unemployment at 7.2 percent and tuition costs at an all-time high, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have pushed for federal aid to target specific areas affected by the ailing economy.

In a news release, Rep. David Obey, D-Wisc., House Committee on Appropriations chairman, said the portion of the stimulus bill allotted to higher education would allow American students stay competitive in the global market.

Pushing for increased funding for higher education reaffirms President Barack Obama's previous calls to better fund American colleges and universities.

"We will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age," Obama said in his inauguration address last Tuesday.

Spending money in education is more complicated than it might seem, MU political science professor Peverill Squire said.

"Public universities have been pitted in competition against K-12 education and, in many states, public universities have not fared well," Squire said.

Of the proposed funds, more than $275 billion will go to the middle class tax cuts. This aims to increase spending and start the flow of credit again.

In a release, Obey said the cuts would provide direct tax relief to 95 percent of American workers and spur investment and job growth for American businesses.

The policy drew initial criticism from Democrats who do not want to support additional tax cuts following previous attempts by former President George Bush to stimulate the economy by way of supply side tax breaks.

The government will distribute the remaining money in the public and private sectors in an attempt to reinvigorate capital spending and credit flow.

Spending has been divided into several major areas where House Democrats believe government funding will help start the reinvestment of capital.

The spending proposed in the package includes $43 billion for unemployment relief, $39 billion to maintain employer provided health care and more than $100 billion for law enforcement, food stamp support and temporary Medicare assistance.

Investments of more than $50 billion dollars in education reform, energy independence, job creation in the green sector and managing the mortgage crisis highlight the stimulus package.

Infrastructure projects make up another large portion, having been allotted $90 billion to improve roads, bridges, transit and waterways.

The tug of war between spending and tax cuts will continue until votes are cast Wednesday and both sides seem determined to steer the bill one way or the other.

"The more that the provisions of the bill stimulate activity in the private sector and the less that they run up the deficit with slap-dash government spending and a big entitlement expansion, the better," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a news release.

Another major concern of the legislators seems to be the tracing of money spent and the establishment of a stringent process for requesting funds.

In a letter to Congress two weeks ago, Obama's top financial aid Lawrence Summers assured Congress any spending proposal would establish "tough and transparent conditions on firms receiving taxpayer assistance." The challenge will come in balancing such ambitious goals while also calming the fears of legislators who are chiefly concerned with fiscal responsibility.

"We are concerned primarily with job creation and projects that are 'shovel-ready,'" said Maria Speiser, spokeswoman for Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. "We do not want to waste a single tax dollar."