The Stimulus Plan: More Money Woven Into Safety Net
WASHINGTON -- The economic-stimulus agreement reached Wednesday expands federal aid to an array of programs aimed at the poor and jobless, with billions of dollars for health care, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other programs.</br></br>Final negotiations between the House and Senate stripped away some of the more aggressive expansions that had been on the table, including an option to let states open their Medicaid programs to the unemployed. But the final deal still represents a larger federal contribution to nearly every major aid program the government administers.</br></br>"It targets relief to those hurting the most in the recession," said Sharon Parrot of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning group that advocated for many of the expansions included in the bill.</br></br>The extra money is set to last a maximum of two years, but Republicans said that it will be hard to cut off the extra aid once it begins flowing. And they said that the increased funding, much of which is funneled to the states, won't create jobs or stimulate the economy.</br></br>In the final bill, the unemployed will see fresh aid on two fronts: an extension of unemployment benefits and help paying health-insurance premiums.