Congress Sends Economic Aid Plan to Bush

WASHINGTON -- Congress, facing the prospect of an election-year recession, passed an emergency plan Thursday that rushes rebates of $600 to $1,200 to most taxpayers and $300 checks to disabled veterans, the elderly and other low-income people. President Bush indicated he would sign the measure.

House passage by a 380-34 vote came a few hours after Senate leaders ended a drawn-out stalemate over the bill. Still, by congressional standards, lawmakers approved the legislation with exceptional speed to jolt the weak economy. The plan, which adds $168 billion to the deficit over two years, is intended to provide cash for people to spend and tax relief for businesses to make new investments _ boosts for an economy battered by a housing downturn and credit crunch.

Rebate checks could begin arriving in May. They would be based on 2007 tax returns, which are due April 15.

The Senate's 81-16 vote capped more than a week of political maneuvering. The logjam broke when majority Democrats dropped their demand that rescue proposal offer jobless benefits, heating aid for the poor and tax breaks for the home building and energy industries.

GOP senators blocked those ideas, but agreed to add $300 rebates for older people and disabled veterans to a $161 billion measure the House passed last week.

Bush called the bill "robust, broad-based, timely, and it will be effective." The compromise, he said in a statement after the Senate acted, was "an example of bipartisan cooperation at a time when the American people most expect it." The White House said Bush would sign the bill sometime next week.

The legislation would deliver rebates _ $600 for individuals, $1,200 for couples _ to most taxpayers, plus an additional $300 per child. Individuals making up to $75,000 a year and couples earning up to $150,000 would get the full rebate, with those making more than that or too little to owe taxes getting smaller checks.

People who paid no income taxes but earned at least $3,000 _ including through Social Security or veterans' disability benefits _ would get a $300 rebate.

"We believe the stimulus, the way it is targeted, will put money into the hands of those who will spend it immediately, injecting demand into the economy and therefore creating jobs," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told colleagues.

The measure also includes steps to boost the ailing housing market. It would temporarily raise the limit on Federal Housing Administration loans and the cap on loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy to $729,750.

The package was the product of a rare spate of bipartisan cooperation on Capitol Hill, where Democrats and Republicans teamed with the White House on a bill that fell far short of both parties' priorities but could draw broad consensus.

An early agreement forged by Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, along with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson enjoyed a fast and smooth ride through the House, with lawmakers loath to stand in the way of a plan that could address their constituents' economic worries in advance of November's elections.