What's In The Stimulus Bill

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ENERGY

-- $30 billion for a smart power grid, advanced battery technology, and energy efficiency measures.



-- $20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency over the next 10 years.



-- A three-year extension of the production tax credit for electricity derived from wind [through 2012] and for electricity derived from biomass, geothermal, hydropower, landfill gas, waste-to-energy, and marine facilities [through 2013].



-- Grants of up to 30% of the cost of building a new renewable energy facility to address current renewable energy credit market concerns.



-- Extended tax credits, through 2010, for such purchases as new furnaces, energy-efficient windows and doors, or insulation.



-- Tax credits for families that purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles of up to $7,500.



-- Clean renewable energy bonds for state and local governments.



-- Manufacturing investment tax credit for investment in advanced energy facilities, such as those that manufacture components for the production of renewable energy and advanced battery technology.



-- $5 billion to improve the energy efficiency of more than 1 million homes.



-- $6.3 billion for increasing energy efficiency in federally supported housing programs.



SCIENCE AND RESEARCH

-- $3 billion for the National Science Foundation for basic research in fundamental science and engineering.



-- $1.6 billion for the Energy Dept.'s Office of Science, which funds research in such areas as climate science, biofuels, high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and fusion energy sciences -- areas crucial to our energy future.



-- $400 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy to support high-risk, high-payoff research into energy sources and energy efficiency in collaboration with industry.



-- $580 million for the National Institute of Standards & Technology, including the Technology Innovation Program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.



-- $8.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health, including expanding good jobs in biomedical research to study diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, and heart disease.



-- $1.5 billion for NIH to renovate university research facilities.



-- $1 billion for the National Aeronautics & Space Administration, including $400 million to put more scientists to work doing climate change research.



BROADBAND

-- $7 billion for extending broadband services to underserved communities.



HEALTH-CARE COSTS AND COVERAGE

-- $19 billion to accelerate adoption of Health Information Technology systems by doctors and hospitals.



-- $87 billion over the next two years in additional federal matching funds to help states maintain Medicaid programs.



-- 60% subsidy for COBRA premiums for up to nine months. Currently, laid-off workers can buy into their former employer's health insurance, but the premiums are often prohibitively expensive.



-- $1 billion for a new Prevention & Wellness Fund.



-- $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research, to help patients and doctors determine the effectiveness of different treatments.



EDUCATION AND CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

-- $53.6 billion for a State Fiscal Stabilization Fund -- $40.6 billion to local school districts, which can be used for preventing cutbacks, preventing layoffs, school modernization, and other purposes; $5 billion as bonus grants for meeting key performance measures; and $8 billion for public safety and other services.



-- Higher education tax credit increased to a maximum of $2,500, and makes it available to nearly 4 million low-income students by making it partially refundable



-- Increases the maximum Pell Grant by $500, for a maximum of $5,350 in 2009 and $5,550 in 2010.



-- $200 million added to the College Work-Study program.



-- $1.1 billion for Early Head Start.



-- $1 billion for Head Start.



-- $2 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant to provide child care services to an additional 300,000 children in low-income families while their parents go to work.



-- $13 billion for Title I grants to help disadvantaged kids reach high academic standards.



-- $12.2 billion for special education grants.



ROADS, BRIDGES, TRANSIT, WATER

-- $29 billion for modernizing roads and bridges. States must obligate at least half of the funding within 120 days.



-- $8.4 billion for investments in transit.



-- $8 billion for investment in high-speed rail.



-- $18 billion for clean water, flood control, and environmental restoration investments.



-- $5 billion for improvements in Defense Dept. facilities.



-- $4.5 billion to make federal office buildings more energy-efficient.



TAX CUTS, INDIVIDUALS

-- Refundable tax credit of up to $400 per worker [$800 per couple filing jointly], phasing out completely at $200,000 for couples filing jointly and $100,000 for single filers.



-- Child tax credit expanded to allow families to begin qualifying for the child tax credit with every dollar earned over $3,000.



-- Earned Income Tax Credit expanded by providing tax relief to families with three or more children and increasing marriage penalty relief.



-- New, partially refundable $2,500 tax credit for families.



-- Suspends the Alternative Minimum Tax for 26 million families.



-- $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers on homes bought from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, with no repayment requirement.



-- Tax deduction for state and local sales taxes paid on purchase of new cars, light trucks.



-- Temporarily suspends taxation of some unemployment benefits.



TAX CUTS, BUSINESSES

-- Extends the bonus depreciation and increases small business expensing for investments in plants and equipment in 2009.



-- Extends to small businesses expensing for investment in new plants and equipment, loss carry back, a delay of the 3% withholding tax on payments to businesses that sell goods or services to governments, and a cut in the capital gains tax cut for investors in small businesses who hold stock for more than five years.



-- Delays the tax on businesses that have discharged indebtedness.



-- Tax credits for hiring recently discharged unemployed veterans and youth that have been out of work and out of school for the six months prior to hire.



-- New bond-financing program for school construction, rehabilitation, and repair.



UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE

-- Continues through December the extended unemployment benefits program [which provides up to 33 weeks of extended benefits] that is otherwise scheduled to begin to phase out at the end of March.



-- Increases unemployment benefits for 20 million jobless workers by $25 per week.



-- Increases food stamp benefits by 13%.



-- $100 million for Emergency Food & Shelter to help local community organizations provide food and shelter; $100 million for formula grants to states for elderly nutrition services including Meals on Wheels; and $150 million for the Emergency Food Assistance Program to purchase commodities for food banks to refill emptying shelves.



-- $4 billion for job training including formula grants for adult job training, dislocated worker job training, and youth services [including funding for summer jobs for young people].



-- $500 million for Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants to help persons with disabilities.



-- $500 million to match unemployed individuals to job openings.



-- $120 million to provide community service jobs to an additional 24,000 low-income older Americans.



AID TO SENIORS, DISABLED VETERANS

-- Payment of $250 to Social Security beneficiaries, as well as veterans receiving disability compensation and pension benefits from the Veterans Affairs.