Senate Weighs in on Economic Stimulus

This week, the Senate is debating its version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan (ARRP), which passed the House on January 28, 2009. Several changes to the bill are anticipated before its final adoption, which is expected by the end of the week.

Like its House counterpart, the Senate bill increases funding for a host of state grant programs. Table 1 lists most of them, along with the recommended funding and additional relevant information. Virtually all of these programs already exist and the rules governing them are known by states. This Budget Brief will therefore focus on components of the bill that are a departure from current law, and compare them to provisions in the House-passed bill.

Table 2 lists state-by-state allocations for several individual grant programs included in the bill.