Studying the stimulus bill: what do you get?

DENVER - What's in it for me? In these trying economic times it's a valid question to ask when considering President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package.

Plenty of people can and will debate the validity of the reasoning behind the bill in the first place, but for now let's stick with a few of the most visible things you're likely to see.

EMPLOYMENT:

The stimulus bill is expected to add jobs to the economy, but it's unclear just how much of a boost we will see. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office expects the bill to create anywhere from 1.2 million to 3.6 million jobs by the end of next year. Clearly that is a wide range. In the efforts to try to sell the bill, President Obama's economic team has said passage could eventually result in as many as 4 million new jobs.

Here are some other aspects of the stimulus package as far as unemployment issues are concerned.

- Unemployment benefits will increase by $25 a week. That is expected to start soon.
- In 2009, recipients will not have to pay income taxes on federal unemployment benefits on the first $2,400 they receive.
- COBRA - The government will subsidize 65 percent of the premium up to nine months. COBRA allows workers to continue their former employer's health insurance coverage for up to 18 months now.

EDUCATION:

There will be a massive federal influx of cash that will be made available to school districts all over the country. The stimulus sets up a $54 billion fund to help prevent or restore expected state budget cuts. It also sends money to such programs as Head Start and Early Head Start which will receive more than $4 billion.

As far as higher education is concerned there are a number of provisions that could impact people struggling to find ways to pay for college.

- Pell Grants - the maximum grant goes up by $500 to $5,350.
- A $2,500 tax credit to help cover the costs of higher education. You will need to spend at least $4,000 a year to receive the full credit
- Expansion of 529 plans. People will be allowed to take money out of their accounts to help pay for computers and computer technologies now.

TAXES:

There are tax credits found all over the stimulus package. Because of one of the provisions millions of workers can expect to see about $13 extra in their pay checks starting around June.

- Many Americans will now be eligible for a tax credit of up to $400, or $800 for married couples. The tax credit starts to phase out for those with adjusted gross incomes of $75,000, or $150,000 for married couples. It is likely employers will simply adjust tax withholdings accordingly so that an employee will see a little extra in his or her paycheck.
- First-time homebuyers can receive up to an $8,000 tax credit. Purchases must be made in 2009 before Dec. 1.
- Allows new car buyers to deduct the purchase's sales tax from taxable income.
- An expanded earned income tax credit and child tax credit for low-income families.

There is also clearly a huge amount of cash that will be used to help the country's infrastructure issues. For example the stimulus bill includes $7 billion for broadband deployment into rural areas; $11 billion will be spent on upgrading the country's energy grid; and $150 billion has been set aside for public works projects.

President Obama will sign the bill on Tuesday in Denver. It's expected that he will try to highlight some of the bill's energy policies while in Colorado.