What's In the Stimulus Package?

Congress has passed the "stimulus bill" and the President is expected to sign it on February 17.

The bill is HUGE (over 1,000 pages) and is the product of much last-minute wrangling among Congressional and White House negotiators.

So, what made it into the final bill? No one really knows yet. However, I've become aware of a conservative web site that has analyzed the bill in its various forms since it was first introduced last month. They'll have an analysis of the final bill as soon as the language is typed up (!) and put into official format by the Government Printing Office (GPO).

The web site is http://www.readthestimulus.org. This web site is sponsored by several conservative think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation. If there are corresponding liberal web sites, please let me know.

It appears that there will be oppportunities for nonprofits to enhance and expand services to meet increasing need (and unmet need), but how this will be accomplished is unclear.

How much in direct government aid to individuals? How much in Federal support for state and local government action? How much will be available for competitive application (grants and contracts) from either the Federal government or from state & local governments?

Finally, remember that legislation is one step in a process. What is done in a bill is often redone (read: changed) when regulations are written by Cabinet departments and agencies.