ADVOCACY

January 18, 2008

Congress Considering Economic Stimulus Package

Sensing great economic urgency and the impact of a recession to the economy, Speaker of House of Representative Nancy Pelosi(D-Calif.)along with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer(D-Md.) and Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Charles Rangel (D-NY) claimed that Congress could realistically pass an economic stimulus package to jumpstart the slowing economy within a month. On Friday President Bush called for tax cuts and business incentives totaling $140 billion. In a spirit of bipartisanship, the Speaker of the House is scheduled to meet with the Republican leadership Roy Blunt of Missouri and Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio on working out details to the proposed Congressional stimulus package. The economic stimulus package proposed by the White House centers on tax cuts, business incentives, and $800 rebates to tax payers to spur the economy very quickly. Key members of congress, however, are working on a measure that will include assistance to the poor in the form of money for food stamps, increased unemployment benefits, and a $500 rebate. This would be done as a way of assisting those most likely to be affected by a slowing economy and looming recession. Rebates would be limited to single households with incomes of $85,000 or less and couples with incomes no greater than $110,000. U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that the administrations efforts will focus on consumers, individuals, and families by putting money in their pockets to spend and on giving businesses the tax incentives to create jobs. Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke testified this week before the House Budget Committee; he urged Congress that the proposed stimulus package be considered temporary and implemented quickly in order to have the intended result of boosting the economy. Chairman Bernanke warned against a plan that would have a long-term adverse impact on the government's budget deficit. The chairman remained hopeful, however, that the country could avoid a dangerous downturn. Speaker Pelosi is pushing for legislation within a month and wants the government to invest the resources ... give the tax relief in a way that injects demand into the economy...puts it in the hands of those who need it most, and into the middle class... so that we can create jobs.

New Home Construction Down 25 percent *
With the housing market contracting at the end of 2007, new home construction dropped by the biggest amount in nearly three decades. The housing forecasts predict more bad news to come in the first quarter of the year and through most of 2008. The state of the housing market, and in particular the slowdown in new home construction, raises concerns on whether it will push the economy into a recession.

* Commerce Department Report - construction of new homes and apartments in 2007 was down 24.8 percent from 2006 - the second biggest annual decline exceeded only by a 26 percent plunge in 1980.

Congress to Consider 2008 Supplemental Appropriation
Talks have begun within the leadership of the House of Representatives to consider a supplemental appropriation for FY 2008. The House of Representatives Democrats will most likely consider the supplemental appropriations and Democratic agenda items at their scheduled legislative retreat scheduled for January 30-31 in Williamsburg, Virginia.

REAL ID Law
The federal government announced final regulations for the REAL ID Act, designed to make it more difficult to get government issued identification cards. Americans born after December 1, 1964, will have to get a new, more secure driver’s license within six years. Those born before that date will have an additional three years to obtain the tamper-proof identification. The new driver licenses will have three layers of security measures to be chosen by the individual states, but the federal government will not require them to contain microchips. Concerns remain, however, particularly with regard to the cost to states in implementing the law and the security of the personal data being kept by the government. By 2011, the federal government hopes all states will be in compliance. Washington will have to defray state expenses and, perhaps with federal guidance, will need to devise systems that will ensure the security of personal information. The American Civil Liberties Union has raised other objections and criticized the program, including plans that allow government agencies to