Stimulus package swells in Senate

The income limits compare with caps of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples in an economic stimulus bill the House passed Tuesday.

They were part of a bill written by Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who chairs the Finance Committee, and backed by Charles Grassley of Iowa, the panel's senior Republican. The legislation would pump $193 billion into the economy over the next two years. The House measure would inject $161 billion.

The Senate plan also would expand rebate eligibility to 20 million older Americans on Social Security and to disabled veterans, and would tack on an unemployment extension for those whose benefits have run out.

"It helps seniors and it helps those hit hardest by the economic downturn," Baucus said of his plan.

He said it could win quick approval and be ready for enactment by Feb. 15.

"This cannot be loaded down," Grassley said, "or it is likely to sink."

Baucus originally proposed to let even the richest taxpayers share in the rebates, saying that would attract Republican support for his measure. Grassley said that lifting what some Republicans deemed "suffocating income limits" in the House plan was a key reason he was backing the bill.

But Senate Democrats balked at the idea of wealthy people - including lawmakers - getting rebate checks. Baucus's new proposal expressly bars members of Congress from getting the checks.

It also goes further than the House package in efforts to bar illegal immigrants from receiving rebates. Under the Senate measure, recipients and their spouses and children would have to have valid Social Security numbers to qualify. The House bill omits that requirement, although it expressly disqualifies nonresident immigrants.

In backing the bill, Grassley broke with President Bush and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Both have said the Senate should simply pass the House-passed stimulus measure.

Grassley told Iowa reporters that he believes the Senate will act quickly on the measure and that he and Baucus will team up to try to block further amendments.