Feature Story from civilrights.org
Janel Johnson
February 19, 2008
Hoping to revive a sluggish economy, President Bush signed a $168 million stimulus package on February 13 that will deliver one-time tax rebate checks into the hands of millions of Americans. To the dismay of advocates for low-income communities, the package does not include many important aspects that they say will help those most in need and give the economy the boost it needs.
The package will provide rebate checks of $600-$1200 to singles and married couples with families with children receiving an additional $300 per child. People whose incomes would usually not require them to file an income tax return, including those who receive Social Security payments and disabled veterans, will receive checks of up to $300.
The package also includes $40 million in business tax cuts and temporarily raises the limits on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae Federal Housing loans.
The stimulus package will not provide an increase in funding for unemployment insurance or programs such as food stamps, and it does not provide any relief to those have lost their homes due to foreclosure. With the recent slump in the housing market and historically high unemployment rates, economists and several legislators saw these measures as necessities for any effective stimulus package.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "a stimulus package should include a temporary measure to provide additional weeks of federally funded UI benefits for workers who exhaust their regular UI benefits before they can find work, as Congress has done in every recent recession," the report states. Additionally, the report refers to food stamps as "the most effective forms of stimulus available" because they will be spent immediately, quickly injecting money into the suffering economy.
For these reasons, civil rights groups and low-income advocates had urged legislators to enact a comprehensive package that included extended unemployment benefits, food stamp increases, and state aid. In a letter calling for such relief, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Coalition on Human Needs, noted that Congress had the opportunity to simultaneously provide effectiveness and equity, stating, "If the stimulus package is to work quickly, it needs to reach as many low- and moderate- income people as possible."
While acknowledging that the stimulus package should have some positive impact, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated, "It is far from a panacea, and much more should be done to address our economy's longer-term problems."
Low-income communities have been hit hard because of current economic conditions, especially due to a surge in unemployment rates. In December of 2007, the national average for unemployment stood at five percent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16 states are suffering with unemployment rates of five percent or more. Michigan ranks the highest with 7.4 percent of their population out of jobs.
