Rep. Watson Provides Answers to Stimulus Plan Questions

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A: To deploy the $400 per year for individuals and $800 per year for couples Making Work Pay tax cut quicker than any tax cut in history - it will be spread out over weekly paychecks -boosting the stimulative effect. As President Obama said last this weekend, "[B]y April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month. Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans." An extra $65 each month could mean being able to fill up the tank for a week, to pay for a week's worth of health care bills, or paying the monthly bill for telephone for the average American family. [Consumer Expenditures Survey, 2007] This addition to paychecks will prompt much-needed consumer spending to stimulate the economy - in contrast, to last year's lump-sum rebate which was used by some for savings or to pay off credit cards.

A: Yes. Most of the funding for public schools in the Recovery Act is for all public schools, not only Title I schools. For example, the Recovery Act creates a State Fiscal Stabilization Fund which includes $39.5 billion which goes to school districts in order to restore education budget cuts that have impacted all schools, stave off teacher layoffs, and modernize existing school facilities. Most of this $39.5 billion will go to school districts using states' funding formulas. (Specifically, for the vast majority of states that have cut education funding, they must distribute this funding to school districts using states9 funding formulas until the funding reaches the FY 2008 or FY 2009 level - whichever is higher. At that point, any additional dollars must be distributed using the Title I formula For the few states that have not cut education funding, the funds must be distributed using the Title I formula.) There is a $13 billion increase for Title I funding included in the Act, but that is only a fraction of the more than $70 billion for K-12 education in the Act.

The economic recovery plan will create or save 3.5 million jobs by focusing on the American people with tax cuts, much-needed relief, and long-term investments to strengthen our economy Q Does the Recovery Act discriminate against religious groups? A: The House plans to act soon to reduce home foreclosures by allowing bankruptcy judges to modify home loans for families in bankruptcy and reforming the Hope for Homeowners program (PL 110-289) enacted last year to help borrowers in danger of losing their homes refinance into new government-backed loans.

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Rep. Watson Provides Answers to Stimulus Plan Questions

Congresswoman Diane E. Watson (D-California) provides the following answers to questions regarding the American Recoveiy and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus Plan) from information provided by the Office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

Q: What is the difference between the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and the financial rescue plan?

A: The financial rescue plan of last fall was designed to restore the flow of credit aft...

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