What's in the Stimulus Bill

According to the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, these are some of the highlights of the new economic stimulus legislation

ENERGY

• $30 billion for a smart power grid, advanced battery technology, and energy efficiency measures.

• $20 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency over the next 10 years.

• A three-year extension of the production tax credit for electricity derived from wind (through 2012) and for electricity derived from biomass, geothermal, hydropower, landfill gas, waste-to-energy, and marine facilities (through 2013).

• Grants of up to 30% of the cost of building a new renewable energy facility to address current renewable energy credit market concerns.

• Extended tax credits, through 2010, for such purchases as new furnaces, energy-efficient windows and doors, or insulation.

• Tax credits for families that purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles of up to $7,500.

• Clean renewable energy bonds for state and local governments.

• Manufacturing investment tax credit for investment in advanced energy facilities, such as those that manufacture components for the production of renewable energy and advanced battery technology.

• $5 billion to improve the energy efficiency of more than 1 million homes.

• $6.3 billion for increasing energy efficiency in federally supported housing programs.

SCIENCE AND RESEARCH

• $3 billion for the National Science Foundation for basic research in fundamental science and engineering.

• $1.6 billion for the Energy Dept.'s Office of Science, which funds research in such areas as climate science, biofuels, high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and fusion energy sciences—areas crucial to our energy future.

• $400 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy to support high-risk, high-payoff research into energy sources and energy efficiency in collaboration with industry.

• $580 million for the National Institute of Standards & Technology, including the Technology Innovation Program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

• $8.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health, including expanding good jobs in biomedical research to study diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, and heart disease.

• $1.5 billion for NIH to renovate university research facilities.

• $1 billion for the National Aeronautics & Space Administration, including $400 million to put more scientists to work doing climate change research.

BROADBAND

• $7 billion for extending broadband services to underserved communities.

HEALTH-CARE COSTS AND COVERAGE

• $19 billion to accelerate adoption of Health Information Technology systems by doctors and hospitals.

• $87 billion over the next two years in additional federal matching funds to help states maintain Medicaid programs.

• 60% subsidy for COBRA premiums for up to nine months. Currently, laid-off workers can buy into their former employer's health insurance, but the premiums are often prohibitively expensive.

• $1 billion for a new Prevention & Wellness Fund.

• $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research, to help patients and doctors determine the effectiveness of different treatments.

EDUCATION AND CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

• $53.6 billion for a State Fiscal Stabilization Fund—$40.6 billion to local school districts, which can be used for preventing cutbacks, preventing layoffs, school modernization, and other purposes; $5 billion as bonus grants for meeting key performance measures; and $8 billion for public safety and other services.

• Higher education tax credit increased to a maximum of $2,500, and makes it available to nearly 4 million low-income students by making it partially refundable

• Increases the maximum Pell Grant by $500, for a maximum of $5,350 in 2009 and $5,550 in 2010.

• $200 million added to the College Work-Study program.

• $1.1 billion for Early Head Start.

• $1 billion for Head Start.

• $2 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant to provide child care services to an additional 300,000 children in low-income families while their parents go to work.

• $13 billion for Title I grants to help disadvantaged kids reach high academic standards.

• $12.2 billion for special education grants.