Senate Appropriations
Committee approves stimulus bill
Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its
version of the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009". As in the House Appropriations Committee's
version unveiled on January 15th, the Senate bill also includes port
related provisions and funding for highway, rail, navigation and environmental
improvements. This infrastructure
funding will help to secure our nation's seaports, expedite the movement of
goods in and out of the U.S.,
and reduce pollution. The committee also
believes the bill will create 37,000 direct new private sector jobs and over
100,000 indirect jobs.
The Senate's stimulus bill proposed funding for the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and included an additional $100M over the House
proposal. The Senate version includes a
total of $4.6B for the Corps, including $2B for Corps construction projects and
$1.9B for operations and maintenance. PNWA
strongly supports this proposed increase, as it is imperative to meet the needs
of failing infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest
and throughout the nation. PNWA staff
will be on Capitol Hill today and tomorrow, expressing our support for this
Corps funding, and describing potential projects in the Pacific
Northwest that might benefit if this package is approved.
The Senate package will now head to the Senate floor. After it is passed, the House and Senate will
need to conference their differing packages, pass the consensus package, and
send it to the President's desk. It is
hoped that the President will sign the stimulus into law in the next month.
PNWA staff contact: Kristin Meira
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