The US Senate passed an 838-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan Tuesday, touching off difficult compromise negotiations with the House aimed at sending President Barack Obama a final bill this week. Obama, making a campaign-style stop in an economically hard-hit part of Florida, immediately called the outcome "good news" and "a good start" to his bid to rescue the battered US economy.
Senators voted 61-37 to approve the package, setting the stage for talks aimed at reconciling differences between their legislation and the House of Representatives' rival 819-billion-dollar plan. Leaders of the Democratic majorities in both chambers have said they will work as long as it takes to get a final package to Obama, who has urged lawmakers to meet a self-imposed February 16 deadline for doing so.
The Senate vote came after a small group of swing-vote senators crafted a smaller alternative to what had ballooned to a 940 billion dollar package, securing support from three moderate Republicans: Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, and Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter.
Their critical support - Democrats can count on 58 votes and need them to reach the 60 votes needed to thwart parliamentary delaying tactics - may be an obstacle to making major changes to the Senate version of the legislation. House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters that he hoped to make changes to the Senate version, but acknowledged concerns in Congress and the Obama White House about vital Senate support "jumping ship."
Hoyer also said that the House would keep at the compromise talks until there was agreement, whether or not lawmakers pass Obama's self-imposed February 16 deadline for getting a final bill to his desk. The Senate version sliced popular funding, including about 14 billion dollars for school construction and 40 billion in direct aid to US states, many of which are facing painful cuts to meet legal bans on running budget deficits.
The Obama administration has said that he would like to see some of the education monies return to the bill, which blends tax cuts and government spending to battle the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.