Congress is locked in a bitter debate over what kind of economic stimulus bill the nation needs at this time. To us, the choice is clear: we need to keep the economy and safety net strong for all families and not just hand out more tax breaks to corporations.

Unfortunately, Congress has been unable to act quickly on this issue because of the radically different plans under consideration.

• The House of Representatives passed a $200 billion tax bill and wrongly called it economic stimulus. This bill primarily helps corporations by repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax. It would also rebate taxes paid by these corporations over the past 15 years - a huge corporate windfall - resulting in a $25 billion loss to the Treasury.
• The centerpiece of a plan advanced by President Bush, which is supported by Senate Republicans, would accelerate the individual tax rate reduction scheduled to take place in 2004 and 2006 for upper income tax payers. (55% of the benefits would go to those with incomes over $384,000.) The plan also contains many of the corporate tax breaks called for by the House.
• Senate Democrats have called for a plan that provides $90 billion in essential short-term assistance where it's most needed. This bill would extend temporary unemployment and health care coverage for millions of Americans and provide states and localities with additional resources to pay for public safety, public health, Medicaid and other vital priorities. This bill recognizes the dire fiscal needs of the states by temporarily increasing the federal Medicaid matching rate by more than $5 billion.

President Signs Airport Security Bill into Law

President Bush signed into law a new airport security bill. In a big victory for public workers everywhere, the agreement places the baggage screening function in the hand of federal employees, who will be better screened, trained and better paid.

Emergency Money for New York Denied in Committee

Although Congress passed and the President signed into law legislation appropriating $20 billion of the $40 billion Emergency Recovery Fund for New York in the immediate aftermath of September 11th, that sum has been blocked from reaching New York by the Bush Administration and the GOP majority on the House Appropriations Committee. So far, New York has only received approximately $6.8 billion with a promise for more next year.

New York Representatives joined ranks to support an amendment that would have provided New York with another $9.73 billion immediately. However, New York lost the first round of the battle when the House Appropriations Committee met to consider the Department of Defense funding bill. The New York amendment narrowly failed on a 31-34 vote with every Republican member except Representatives Walsh and Sweeney voting against New York aid and all the Democrats voting for it.

After further negotiations, Representatives Walsh and Sweeney were instrumental in reaching an agreement to bring in $5 billion more for this year.

WHY PEOPLE?

PEOPLE (Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality) is our federal political action program. PEOPLE is your voice in Washington D.C.
We fight for better wages, job security, safe workplaces, health care, social security and making sure we get our fair share of the federal budget for programs for our members. JOIN PEOPLE TODAY!
Call the Political Action Department at 1-800-342-4146 ext 1404 for more information.