Today, the House produced a fact-sheet of further specifics on the stimulus package. No real surprises in it for those of us who have been following the legislation for a while, though I am pleased to note that my own parochial interest, HUD, has been rewarded with money to retrofit public and affordable housing to be more energy efficient. There is a lot of time spent on transparency issues, including public websites detailing stimulus plans as well as quarterly executive branch reports on the status of the project. And of course, there are no earmarks allowed. A few other interesting initiatives that jumped out at me:
- $80 million to the Department of Labor to ensure worker protection laws are enforced.
- $20 billion to computerize health care records.
- $1 billion for new commuter rail construction, $2 billion to modernize existing transportation systems, $1.1 billion to improve Amtrak's intercity passenger rail service.
- $600 million to replace older federal government vehicles with altnerative fuel automobiles.
There's a lot more in there, but I'll let you peruse it yourself -- post your favorite spending initiative in the comments.
As a blogger, I'll also offer you a little wild speculation that may comfort those who think the stimulus is too small and cause consternation among the camp that worries it is too large: In his statement on the summary of the legislation, Barack Obama notes, "This plan is a significant downpayment on our most urgent challenges." Just a downpayment, huh? Presumably, then, further efforts are to follow.
-- Tim Fernholz
