Senators want plan changed

There’s the high school student in Clayton County who pleaded in an e-mail to Rep. David Scott, an Atlanta Democrat, to help get federal money to fix broken windows, bathrooms and lockers.

And the small-business owners who urged Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) in Atlanta on Wednesday to cut business taxes, fix the banks and curtail spending to turn around the ailing economy.

There’s the pastor who told Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) during a phone call that he’s never seen things this bad.

“There’s not anybody in Georgia now, not a single soul, who isn’t impacted to some degree,” Isakson said. “I know how pervasive the problem is. I know how many people are hurting.”

Chambliss and Isakson —- and their Senate colleagues —- will next week try to amend the $819 billion economic stimulus proposal the House passed Wednesday. Neither senator supports the House version of the package, but they and other members of Congress agree that the government needs to do something quickly to jump-start the economy.

“Once it gets to the Senate, you will see some more Republican ideas injected into the package because they [Democrats] would like to have Republican votes,” Chambliss said Wednesday just before he spoke to the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business in Atlanta. “But unless they raise the tax credits from about 35 percent of the package to somewhere around [the] 45 percent or 50 percent range, I doubt you’ll see many Republican senators voting for it.”

Chambliss and Isakson —- a former real estate executive —- said they cannot support the package unless it does something to quickly revive the housing sector.

“If we don’t fix the housing sector, we will be in the fix we are in for a long time,” Chambliss told 140 business owners during his luncheon speech.

Isakson plans to introduce an amendment to the Senate bill that would give a $15,000 tax credit to anyone who buys a new or previously owned home in the next year. Unlike a $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers enacted last year, Isakson’s proposed tax credit would apply to all home buyers and will not have to be repaid.

The stimulus plan, as passed by the House, contains $5.6 billion for projects in Georgia, including money for transportation, infrastructure and education.

Chambliss said the details of the package are critically important if it is to succeed.

“We have to do it in the right way,” he told reporters after his speech. “[Just] spending a trillion dollars I’m not sure is the right way to do it. I’m not sure we can spend our way out of this.”

Chambliss received more than 1,100 calls or e-mails on Monday for and against the House bill, according to his staff. Many constituents said it contained too much spending on congressional pet projects and too few tax breaks.

“Please vote ‘No’ on this economic stimulus package because we are all broke and can’t afford to upgrade the National Mall or repaint the State Department when a lot of people can barely afford to put gas in their cars and food on their kitchen tables,” one Winder resident wrote in an e-mail provided by Chambliss’ office.

“I oppose the economic stimulus package in its present form because there is too much spending versus stimulus,” wrote another from Marietta.

Many local government officials, however, are pleading for passage of the plan. Among them is Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who has said she’s hopeful Washington will pass a “robust” economic stimulus package quickly that could help the city address its $50 million budget shortfall.

In a recent survey of more than 500 cities, the Georgia Municipal Association found that municipalities across the state will need more than $14 billion in infrastructure improvements for things like roads, sewers and water systems over the next five years. About half of that is needed by the city of Atlanta, according to the group.

Cities in Georgia and nationwide have lost revenue from real estate and other tax sources and because of other economic problems. They “are telling their congressmen that they not only need [funding] for infrastructure projects, but better access to bond markets as well,” to pay for projects, said Amy Henderson, spokeswoman for the association of municipalities.

At the office of Rep. Jack Kingston, a Savannah Republican, staffers have gotten “a couple hundred” phone calls and about 500 e-mails, according to spokesman Chris Crawford.

“Typical issues don’t get nearly this much attention,” Crawford said. “These aren’t robo-calls, these are individuals who feel compelled to call on their own.”

Still, most callers said they were against the House version of the stimulus bill, according to Crawford.

Like Kingston —- who voted against the bill —- many constituents said they thought it included too much funding for social programs, and not enough tax breaks for businesses and individuals, according to Crawford.

BOB KEEFE in Washington; JIM THARPE in Atlanta

 Associated Press 
BLUEPRINT TO STIMULATE STATES
The economic recovery package voted on by the House includes money to help states balance their budgets, as well as funding for special education, programs for disadvantaged students, school construction, roads, bridges and mass transit. 

Spending, ($149.9 billion*) 
Map of U.S. shows states color-coded to indicate how spending would be allocated, along this scale: 
Less than $1 billion; between $1 billion and $2 billion; between $2 billion and $3 billion; between $3 billion and $4 billion; More than $4 billion. 
—- 
Georgia: More than $4 billion
Calif.: $17.8 billion 
Vermont: $401 million 
D.C.: Less than $1 billion
—-
*Does not include $3.7 billion to U.S. territories 
Note: Does not include new Medicaid and other health care funding, extended unemployment benefits, other spending items and $3 billion in additional mass transit aid adopted Wednesday as an amendment to the bill. 
Sources: House Appropriations Committee; House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee