Washington — Work on an economic-stimulus bill containing billions of dollars for colleges and students continues in Congress this week, as lawmakers rush to get a completed bill to President Obama’s desk by mid-February.
Two Senate panels — the Committees on Finance and on Appropriations — are scheduled to discuss their portions of the Senate bill tomorrow, while the House of Representatives is expected to vote on its version of the measure on Wednesday.
Over all, the Senate bill is less generous to students and to colleges than the House version is.
While both bills would pay down a shortfall in the Pell Grant program and increase the maximum grant, the House bill would increase it by $500, to $5,350, in the 2009-10 academic year and the Senate bill would increase it by $281 in 2009-10 and $400 in 2010-11, for a total increase of $681 over two years.
The House plan would provide $490-million more for the Work-Study Program and raise the borrowing limits on unsubsidized Stafford Loans by $2,000. The text of the Senate bill is not yet available, but a summary does not mention an increase in loan limits or Work-Study.
Both bills would create a new $2,500 tax credit for higher-education expenses, though the House bill would be slightly more generous to students from lower-income families who don’t pay taxes, allowing them to claim $1,000 of the credit, $250 more than the Senate bill would.
Both bills include $39-billion for states to give to public colleges and school districts, and $25-billion for states to spend on “other high-priority needs,” which could include education.
The Senate bill, compared with the House measure, would provide less than half as much money for college and school facilities ($3.5-billion vs. $7.5-billion) and for the National Science Foundation ($1.4-billion vs. $4-billion). But it would provide more than twice as much for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($1.5-billion vs. $600-million) and 10 times as much for the Department of Energy ($40-billion vs. $4-billion), though it’s not clear how much of that money would go to research.
Both bills include $3.5-billion for the National Institutes of Health, though they would distribute it differently.
Both measures face opposition from Republicans, who say the Democrats’ plans are too expensive and should focus more on tax cuts. In a news release last week, the House minority leader, Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, criticized the House bill’s $6-billion for colleges and universities, saying many colleges “have billion-dollar endowments.” In fact, only around 70 colleges do, and they have lost millions in the financial meltdown on Wall Street.
The Washington Post voiced similar concerns in an editorial on Sunday, citing increased spending on Pell Grants and the National Endowment for the Arts among items that would not have an immediate impact on the ailing economy — the theoretical goal of the stimulus plan. —Kelly Field
