Economic Recovery Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3689
Sponsor: Sen. Reid, Harry [D-NV]
Introduced: 2008-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Agricultural subsidies
Agriculture and Food
Air force
Air pollution control
Airlines
Airports
Alternative energy sources
Ambulatory care
American Samoa
Animals
Aquatic ecology
Armed Forces and National Security
Army
Army Corps of Engineers
Arrest
Arts, Culture, Religion
Asbestos
Automobile industry
Automobile parts
Automobiles
Aviation safety
Block grants
Border patrols
Bridges
Cattle
Census
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Charter schools
Child sexual abuse
Child support
Clinics
Coast guard
Commerce
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Commodity exchanges
Communicable diseases
Community policing
Computer crimes
Congress
Congressional oversight
Congressional reporting requirements
Construction costs
Consumer credit
Corporate finance
Corporate governance
Crime and Law Enforcement
Cultural property
Customs administration
Dams
Defense budgets
Demography
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Education
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Justice
Department of Labor
Department of Transportation
Department of the Interior
Department of the Treasury
Disabled
Disaster relief
District of Columbia
Drug abuse
Drug law enforcement
Drugs
East Asia
Economic development
Economic impact statements
Economic stabilization
Education
Education of the disadvantaged
Electric batteries
Electric power distribution
Elementary and secondary education
Emergency Management
Emergency housing
Emergency medicine
Employee training
Energy
Energy assistance for the poor
Energy conservation
Energy efficiency
Energy prices
Energy research
Environmental Protection
Environmental Protection Agency
Epidemics
Excise tax
Executive compensation
Families
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal aid to Indians
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to housing
Federal aid to law enforcement
Federal aid to research
Federal aid to transportation
Federal aid to water pollution control
Federal aid to water resources development
Federal employees
Federal installations
Federal office buildings
Federal-Indian relations
Federally-guaranteed loans
Feeds
Fees
Finance and Financial Sector
Fines (Penalties)
Fish culture
Floods
Florida
Food relief
Food safety
Foreclosure
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Fuel consumption
Futures trading
General Services Administration
Geology
Golden parachutes
Government Operations and Politics
Government and business
Government lending
Government procurement
Government trust funds
Guerrilla warfare
Harbors
Health
Higher education
Highway finance
Homeless
Housing and Community Development
Housing authorities
Housing subsidies
Hydroelectric power
Ice breaking operations
Immigration
Income tax
Independent regulatory commissions
Influenza
Information technology
Infrastructure
Inspectors general
Interest
Intergovernmental fiscal relations
Judicial officers
Labor and Employment
Latin America
Law
Legal Services Corporation
Livestock
Loans
Louisiana
Low-income housing
Maintenance and repair
Marines
Mass rapid transit
Meat inspection
Medicaid
Medical research
Medical supplies
Medical tests
Mexico
Military construction operations
Military dependents
Military housing
Mine wastes
Minimum wages
Minorities
Minority employment
Mississippi River
Missouri
Missouri River development
Motor vehicles
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
National forests
National parks
Nature conservation
Navigation
Navy
Non-native species
Northern Mariana Islands
Nuclear facilities
Nuclear security measures
Nuclear weapons
Nutrition
Old age assistance
Park rangers
Passenger ships
Philippines
Physical fitness
Police communication systems
Police training
Potable water
Prescription pricing
Preventive medicine
Protection of animals
Psychiatric hospitals
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Public health administration
Public housing
Public-private partnerships
Puerto Rico
Quality of care
Railroad engineering
Railroad equipment
Railroad finance
Railroad passenger traffic
Relocation
Rent
Rental housing
Reprogramming of appropriated funds
Research and development
Research centers
Restoration ecology
Revolving funds
Rivers
Road construction
Rural economic development
Rural education
Rural housing
Sales tax
School buildings
Science, Technology, Communications
Security measures
Sex offenders
Shipbuilding
Shore protection
Small Business Administration
Small business
Smithsonian Institution
Smuggling
Social Welfare
Southwest (U.S.)
Space activities
Space flight
Space shuttles
Special education
Sports and Recreation
State taxation
Storms

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: 
Economic Recovery Act of 2008 - Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 for infrastructure, energy, and economic recovery for: (1) the Department of Agriculture; (2) the Department of Commerce; (3) the Department of Justice (DOJ); (4) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); (5) the Legal Services Corporation; (6) the Department of Defense (DOD) - Civil for the Department of the Army Corps of Engineer; (7) the Department of Energy (DOE); (8) the Department of the Treasury, including the Office of Inspector General; (9) the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); (10) the General Services Administration (GSA); (11) the Small Business Administration (SBA); (12) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); (13) the Department of the Interior; (14) the Smithsonian Institution; (15) the Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration; (16) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); (17) the Department of Education; (18) DOD military construction, Navy and Marine Corps, and DOD family housing construction, Army and Air Force; (19) the Department of Transportation (DOT); and (20) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
 
Makes appropriations for FY2009 to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide a temporary increase in benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
 
Farm Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 to make appropriations to the Secretary of Agriculture for emergency financial assistance to producers on a farm that incurred qualifying quantity or quality losses for the 2008 crop due a natural disaster or any related condition, particularly sugar and sugarcane crops in Florida and Louisiana.
 
Prescribes: (1) a temporary increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act; and (2) a temporary reinstatement of authority to provide federal matching payments for state spending for child support incentive payments.
 
Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to increase and extend emergency unemployment compensation (EUC).
 
Exempts weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and December 8, 2009, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law of such state provides for payment (at any time or under any circumstances) of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. (Thus allows temporary federal matching for the first week of extended benefits for states with no waiting period.)
 
National Park Centennial Fund Act - Establishes in the Treasury the National Park Centennial Fund.
 
Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make emergency direct loans of up to $25 billion in the aggregate to certain automobile manufacturers and component suppliers.
 
Requires the Secretary, in allocating loan amounts, to prioritize applications based on the magnitude of the impact of the applicant's manufacturing operations in the United States on the overall U.S. economy and other segments of the automobile industry, including the impact on levels of employment, domestic manufacturing of automobiles and automobile components, and automobile dealerships.
 
Authorizes the automobile manufacturer or component supplier, at the Secretary's discretion, to issue to the Secretary preferred stock in lieu of receiving a loan, on analogous terms and conditions as those described for such EESA loans.
 
Requires any applicant automobile manufacturer or component supplier to submit to the Secretary a detailed plan on how the government funds requested will: (1) be utilized to ensure the long-term financial posture of the company; and (2) stimulate U.S. automobile production and improve the company's capacity to pursue the timely and aggressive production of energy-efficient advanced technology vehicles.
 
Declares that the costs incurred by the federal government in making such loans, including credit subsidy costs and administrative expenses, shall be covered out of proceeds from the sale of government bonds and the third tranche of the $700 billion made available under EESA. 
 
Specifies timing of loan disbursements, and terms and conditions.
 
Directs the Secretary to require any loan recipient to meet specified standards for executive compensation and corporate governance.
 
Applies certain EESA oversight requirements to any loans made under this Act.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer, other than a corporation, an above-the-line deduction for interest, state sales tax, or excise tax paid or accrued during the taxable year on any indebtedness incurred after November 12, 2008, and before January 1, 2010, in acquiring any qualified motor vehicle which is secured by such vehicle.
 
Designates each amount in this Act as an emergency requirement, necessary to meet certain emergency needs in accordance with the FY2008-FY2009 congressional budget resolutions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10607)
action_date: 2008-11-18
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 1122 under authority of the order of the Senate of 11/17/2008.
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time. (text of measure as introduced: CR S10586-10599)
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate