OMAHA, Neb.—Both of Nebraska’s U.S. senators aren’t sure whether they’ll vote for President Barack Obama’s $819 billion economic stimulus plan, which won House approval Wednesday.
All three Nebraska Congressmen, who are all Republicans, joined their fellow Republicans in voting against the plan, which passed the House on a 244-188 vote Wednesday.
In its current form, the bill includes millions for Nebraska, including nearly $378 million to aid the state budget over the next two years and $230 million for highways and bridges.
But other elements of the bill—such as $1.1 billion allotted for medical research—are troublesome, said Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, a Democrat.
“They don’t really seem to be truly stimulus, but they would constitute spending,” said Nelson, who said he wanted to see more jobs created.
His Republican counterpart agreed, and pointed to stimulus money that will be steered to the National Endowment for the Arts.
“This is a job creation bill,” Johanns said. “This isn’t a super-appropriations bill. And unfortunately, I think many have treated it that way.”
Nebraska Reps. Lee Terry of the 2nd District, which includes Omaha, Adrian Smith of western Nebraska’s 3rd District and Jeff Fortenberry of eastern Nebraska’s 1st District all voted against it. The three issued statements after the vote questioning the size of the stimulus package and what is included in the proposal.
“Any action Congress takes must be designed to Improve the economy, not make it worse,” Smith said. He said significantly adding to the national debt would be a bad idea.
Terry said this stimulus bill isn’t the answer for the economy.
“The two things dragging down our economy are the sinking housing market and the auto industry owes, and this bill doesn’t do a darn thing to help sell one home or purchase a new car,” Terry said.
Fortenberry said it doesn’t make sense to subsidize states and let them avoid making cuts.
“Some states, like Nebraska have thus far responsibly managed their budgets, even in tough times, and I could not ask Nebraskans to pay for poor governance elsewhere,” Fortenberry said.
None of the House Republicans voted for the stimulus plan. The issue next goes to the Senate, where Obama hopes to draw more GOP backing.
The House measure includes $544 billion in spending and $275 billion in tax cuts in hopes of reinvigorating the economy and ending the recession. Much of the spending would be for items such as health care, jobless benefits, food stamps and other such programs.
The amount Nebraska would receive to help its state budget is roughly equal to the state’s projected budget shortfall over the next two years, caused by flattening revenues.
But if the money is approved, Gov. Dave Heineman won’t change his budget proposal, his spokeswoman said. The budget would increase by an average of just 1.8 percent each of the next two years under Heineman’s plan.
Johanns said he’s concerned about the total cost of the bill because it will likely exceed $1 trillion with interest on the money the government will have to borrow.
“None of this is paid for,” Johanns said. “It is all going to be financed by floating debt.”
Still, Nelson said he hoped to get a bill passed in the Senate without the “obstructionism” seen in the House, where he said some Republican members appeared determined to vote against anything Obama proposed.
Johanns said he doesn’t like the rush to approve the bill. But Democratic leaders have pledged to get the stimulus package approved by mid-February.
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