Walz Hails Passage of Second Economic Stimulus Package
"MN U.S. House Members"09/26/2008
Says package will boost our economy, create jobs and help provide additional relief to families who are struggling
(Washington, DC) - Today, Congressman Tim Walz voted for a second economic recovery bill that will focus its assistance on creating and maintaining jobs, an important step to addressing our nation's struggling economy.
The package passed the House today by a vote of 264-158. Walz said the economic recovery bill will grow our economy and create jobs through investment in our nation's infrastructure, extend unemployment benefits for the growing number of Americans looking for work, help ensure families don't go hungry with Food Stamp assistance, and ensure low-income Americans do not lose health insurance as a result of state budget crises.
"The first stimulus package put money in the pockets of hard-working, middle-class Americans," said Walz. "With the troubling news from Wall Street over the past months, I led a group of my freshman colleagues to push for a second stimulus package that invests in our nation's crumbling infrastructure."
Walz continued, "Investing in infrastructure projects will provide an immediate short term boost to our economy by putting people to work building projects that will leave behind lasting gains in both the safety and quality of our nation's infrastructure for years to come. We can fix this country and put Americans back to work at the same time."
Under the proposed package, Minnesota will get $208 million for highway projects that could create up to 7000 jobs. Walz said the package will also provide the state with $343 million in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage funding, which will help address the state's budgetary problems.
The HR 7110, the Appropriations for Job Creation and Preservation, Infrastructure Investment, and Economic and Energy Assistance Act will make these important investments in our nation:
* $12.8 billion, for our nation's aging highways and bridges
* $3 billion to repair crumbling schools, provide students with first class technology, and to improve energy efficiency
* $7.5 billion for drinking water and sewer projects including $6.5 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $300 million for Bureau of Reclamation water projects, including $98 million to provide clean, reliable drinking water to rural areas.
* $500 million to accelerate the development of technologies that will contribute to a reliable, domestic energy supply
* $100 million to modernize the electric grid, make energy infrastructure more secure and reliable, and speed recovery from disruptions to the energy supply
* Provides a temporary increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for Medicaid health costs, with increases from one to four percent, at a time of increasing enrollment. These funds will prevent cuts to health insurance and health care services for low-income children and families, as well as generate business activities, jobs, wages and State sales tax revenues that States would otherwise not see
* Provides an additional 7 weeks of extended benefits for workers who have exhausted regular unemployment compensation (20 total weeks). Workers in high unemployment states are eligible for an additional 13 weeks of benefits (33 total weeks). Extending unemployment benefits is one of the quickest, most cost-effective forms of economic stimulus because workers who have lost their paychecks spend benefits quickly
* $2.6 billion to address rising food costs for seniors, people with disabilities and very poor families with children. This year, an average of 27.8 million individuals, and 12.5 million households, received food stamps.