Stimulus Package Redux Could Cost $500 Billion

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly met leading governors to discuss a new economic stimulus package, that one Democratic aide said was likely to cost around $500 billion, Reuters reports. The aide, wanting to remain anonymous, said the legislation would include a middle-class tax cut, billions of dollars for road, bridge and mass transit construction, expanded aid to states and investments in renewable energy.

The House passed a $61 billion stimulus in September but opposition from Senate Republicans backed by a Bush administration veto threat killed the bill in the Senate.
Governors and state legislatures are asking Congress to act quickly on an aid and job- creation bill, noting they face severe budget shortfalls in 2009 and 2010. At $500 billion, the measure would greatly overshadow the $168 billion economic stimulus that was enacted last February, which consisted mostly of tax rebates for families and small business tax benefits. ❖