House Dems nearly done with $850B bill

Pelosi says lawmakers close to finalizing economic rescue legislation. Package totaling $800 billion to $850 billion will include up to $325 billion in tax cuts.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
By Deirdre Walsh, CNN congressional producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that Democrats are close to finalizing the details of an economic recovery package.

Pelosi declined to give reporters any details of the bill, but said she is more confident that Congress would reach the mid-February deadline for getting a bill to Obama's desk.

"It's about four words -- jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs," she said.

The overall price tag for the package is $800 billion to $850 billion, with $300 billion to $325 billion designated for tax cuts and $500 billion to $525 billion dedicated to infrastructure spending and aid to the states, according to a senior House Democratic aide.

It's possible an announcement will be made on Thursday, the aide said.

Democratic leaders are still deciding whether to include a "patch" of the alternative minimum tax, which would increase the cost of the tax-cut section.

After complaints from Democrats, a tax credit Obama proposed for employers was dropped. But another tax cut aimed at broadening businesses' ability to write off their losses, called "net operating loss carryback," is still in the package, although it's unclear if it will remain in the final bill.

Republicans support the carryback provision, but some Democrats on the Hill want to drop it and shift more money to spending on infrastructure.

There was a flurry of meetings on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

Obama's incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, met with House Democratic leaders. Jason Furman, a top economic aide to Obama, held a morning meeting with House Democratic freshmen. And Democratic leaders held an afternoon meeting to work through final decisions on which tax cuts will be included. To top of page

Features
They're hiring!These Fortune 100 employers have at least 350 openings each. What are they looking for in a new hire? More
If the Fortune 500 were a country...It would be the world's second-biggest economy. See how big companies' sales stack up against GDP over the past decade. More
Sponsored By:
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More
Sponsors

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.