The House Committee on Appropriations has released details of its massive $835 billion economic stimulus package (a/k/a the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009), and the New York Times' Catherine Rampell does her best to break it down for taxpayers who'll be footing the bill.
(HT: Tim Kane, Growthology blog)
According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy,
[The] economic-stimulus package... proposes billions of dollars in spending on Medicaid and other federal programs that will help nonprofit groups in cash-strapped states meet spiking demand for social services.
It also proposes spending $200-million to allow AmeriCorps, the national-service program, to expand by 16,000 members to help vulnerable people during the recession, and $50-million to allow the National Endowment for the Arts to provide grants to struggling arts groups....
Many nonprofit leaders and experts have proposed that the stimulus package include billions of dollars of spending to help charities both weather the recession and put people to work solving the country’s problems...
This package does not take up those ideas, although many of the measures to bolster the social safety net and state finances would trickle down to charities that rely on government revenue....
On the Growthology blog, Kane notes that while "some of the stimulus looks smart," the package may not do what it's supposed to -- reinflate the sagging economy. What do you think? Has the House come up with a viable plan? And should the final package include billions of additional dollars to help charities and nonprofits?
-- Regina Mahone
