A $789B Stimulus Bill, What's in It for Me?

Feb. 12, 2009— -- The first effects of the record-setting economic stimulus bill will be seen almost immediately when $54 billion is allocated for cash-strapped states.

Though it will take a while for the federal largesse to reach the states, governors and mayors struggling with billion-dollar deficits -- and laws requiring them to have balanced budgets -- will be able to avoid laying off teachers, cops and other employees knowing that the federal money is in the pipeline.

By June, an additional $150 billion earmarked for public works projects like roads, bridges and schools should be pumping through the financial pipeline, this time creating construction and design jobs.

On a smaller scale, a middle class couple can expect to find an additional $26 in their weekly paychecks starting June 1, thanks to a tax cut in the gigantic bill. A single person will see an extra $13 in the paycheck.

The economic stimulus bill appears to be headed for passage, although without the support of a significant number of Republicans that President Obama had been hoping for.

The measure was trimmed from a high of $838 billion to $789 billion in a conference of House and Senate leaders. That trimming, however, failed to attract more GOP support and also angered liberal Democrats because the size of the tax cut was slashed and some education projects were eliminated.

A final vote on the revised stimulus is expected later this week and Obama hopes to sign it into law Monday.

The bill is a mix of tax cuts and public works spending intended to jolt the economy back to life by saving or creating up to 3.5 million jobs and increasing lending. In conjunction with the White House's emerging $2 trillion bailout plan for financial institutions, nearly $3 trillion is being prepped to revive the economy during the next few years.

What's in it for you?

If there are no congressional surprises and Obama signs the measure into law on Presidents Day, Americans on Social Security and veterans receiving disability and pensions can expect a one-time extra payment of $250 this spring.

Credit should also ease up by midsummer if Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's plan works, making it easier to get loans for mortgages, new cars and college tuition, as well as making it easier for businesses to get loans, according to architects of the bill.