Modest Progress

One day after failing by one vote to break a Republican filibuster, the U.S. Senate passed a fiscal stimulus package similar to the problematic one adopted last week by the U.S. House. The House quickly accepted the Senate's changes, and the bill now awaits President Bush's signature. 

The congressional bill contains three broad measures: a tax rebate for individual tax payers; enhanced expensing and depreciation allowances for businesses and an increase in the size of the mortgages that can be insured by the Federal Housing Authority. 

While the final tax rebate provision arguably is more equitable than the House's original version, Congress still failed to include several measures that would help the people most impacted by a downturn while injecting cash effectively and quickly into local economies. Omitted items include a temporary extension in unemployment insurance and a temporary increase in Food Stamp benefits. And the business tax provisions could result in a revenue loss of some $287 million to North Carolina's state budget, due to the inter-connection between the federal and state revenue systems.

In the Senate, both of North Carolina's senators, Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, voted for the less comprehensive package (Dole had voted previously for the more thorough deal), while in the House, every Tar Heel legislator except for Rep. Howard Coble supported the final version.