Changes to the federal stimulus package are expected to speed up the process of economic recovery. The U.S. House approved an $819 billion federal stimulus package last week, and it's now being considered in the Senate.
When Senators begin debating the bill later this week, Congressman Steve Kagen (D-WI) expects them to focus on changes that would create jobs more quickly than the House version does. Kagen thinks it's appropriate to get people back to work to help pull out of the current economic decline.
However, Kagen disagrees with claims that the House bill is full of earmark spending that Senators want to remove. The Appleton Democrat says projects listed in the bill are investments that needed to be made to get people back to work and to improve the economy. He says there is also a great deal of oversight to keep that money from going to waste.