By Larry Jones
October 13, 2008

Due to worsening economic conditions, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) said on October 8 that Congress may need to pass a $150 billion stimulus bill during a so called lame duck session, after the November 4 election and before January when a new Congress takes over. Although the House passed a $61 billion stimulus package last September, the Senate was unable to pass its version of the bill so the measure failed to win final approval.

Record-breaking housing foreclosures and high energy costs have caused panic on Wall Street and Main Street, sending the stock market into a steep decline and restricting the availability of credit to investors in local communities. As a result, many businesses have closed down and many workers have lost their jobs. This has caused many in Congress to call for a second stimulus bill to create jobs and boost economic growth. A first stimulus bill was approved earlier this year, which provided $600 tax rebate checks to individuals and $1200 to married couples.

Pelosi is interested in passing a second stimulus package that would create jobs by investing in public work projects. She said it would also include assistance for states, provisions to extend unemployment benefits and increase food stamps. These are similar to provisions adopted in the last stimulus bill adopted by the House.

The Senate is open to the idea of considering a second stimulus bill during the lame duck session. Since the Senate is already scheduled to return to Washington November 17 through 19 to complete action on a public lands bill and perhaps consider a measure to extend unemployment benefit, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) indicated the Senate could deal with other matters during that time.