Healthcare for the Unemployed & Unusually Large Job Creation Highlighted (2/14/09)
Healthcare for the Unemployed and Unusually Large Jobs Creation Highlighted as Norton Details Stimulus Package Benefits for D.C.
February 14, 2009
Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) gave a detailed account of the $620 million of benefits for the District of Columbia in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan of 2009 at a press conference this morning. She spoke during her 9th Annual Tax and Information Fair at the Washington Convention Center, where volunteers prepared tax returns for 312 residents. The funds in the stimulus package are expected to generate 12,000 jobs and an even larger number of jobs at the Department of Homeland Security Headquarters in Ward 8, which will receive $650 million, even more than expected, to build the first of five buildings at the DHS compound, a project expected to generate 38, 000 jobs in the area. The Congresswoman's work to make sure that in every category D.C. was treated as a state paid off handsomely for the District, which did better in funds received than seven states. Funds to repair federal structures will be spent disproportionately in D.C. because so many federal buildings are located here.
Norton ticked off some of the most important benefits, including an $8,000 homebuyer tax credit, 65% subsidy for COBRA continuation premiums for up to 9 months for workers who have been involuntarily terminated, and for their families, suspension of federal income taxes on the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits, an increase in Pell Grants, a tax credit of up to $2,500 off the cost of tuition and related expenses, an extension of up to 33 weeks of unemployment benefits, and $250 for a one-time payment to retirees. The details on stimulus money to the District can be found at the Congresswoman's website at https://www.norton.house.gov/.
Norton also announced that Jackie Pelt, a certified IRS tax preparer and Norton's chief volunteer tax preparer, will offer continued tax services at the Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative, located at 2401 Martin Luther King Ave., S.E., on the 3rd floor in the same building as the Congresswoman's Southeast District office.
The Congresswoman also expressed deep gratitude to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as delighted Washingtonians applauded the announcement that the D.C. House Voting Rights Act of 2009 will be on the Senate Floor when Congress returns from the current Presidents' Day recess on Monday, February 23rd.
Click here to view the State By State Table of the Economic Recovery & Reinvestment Plan.