Washington, D.C. -  Today, Congressman Joe Donnelly joined an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives in support of The Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act. 

“I’m proud to support this bi-partisan, broad-based stimulus package,” said Donnelly. “This is a necessary first step to jumpstart our economy and to provide immediate tax relief to working families while maximizing the benefit to the economy.  I urge the Senate to act quickly in their passage of this legislation so we can get the rebate checks to folks as soon as possible.” 

If passed into law, the bill would:

• provide tax relief of up to $600 for an individual and up to $1,200 for a married couple, plus $300 per child.  A total of 117 million families would receive a check.

• target nearly $40 billion of the rebate to families making less than $50,000.

• double the amount (from $125,000 to $250,000) small businesses can write off their taxes for new investments made in 2008 and increase the number of small businesses that are eligible by increasing the dollar amount of the current expensing cap to $800,000 (up from the current $500,000).   

• provide immediate tax relief to all businesses to invest in new equipment by speeding up bonus depreciation provisions, so that firms can write off 50 percent of investments in 2008.

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