Senate Stimulus Proposal Less Promising For Those With Disabilities

Updated: January 23, 2009 at 6:07 PM CT

Senate Democrats unveiled most of their economic stimulus proposal Friday and it includes a smaller one-time stimulus payment to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients than the House version released last week (see here).

The one-time stimulus payment to SSI recipients would drop to $300 in the Senate version versus $450 in the House plan.

The $13 billion in funding proposed for special education is identical in both the House and Senate versions. Similarly, funding for Medicaid remains the same, with $87 billion in temporary Medicaid increases slated to go to the states.

The House Appropriations Committee passed its version of the economic recovery bill this week and it is expected to be voted on by the full House next Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Appropriations committee are expected to consider the Senate version of the bill on Tuesday.

Once the full House and Senate pass a final version of the bill, it will be sent to the president. It is expected that a version of the bill will be on President Barack Obama’s desk by mid-February.