WASHINGTON -- House Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton's office hasn't crunched all the numbers yet but estimates that D.C. would get about $900 million from the economic stimulus plan the House of Representatives approved Wednesday.
That would include $148 million for school renovations and $376 million for transportation and infrastructure improvements. The funds also would mean tax credits for public housing repairs and weatherizing modest-income homes, incentives for hiring unemployed veterans and disconnected youth, and tax credits for school construction bonds and investment in economic development zones.
"We moved one step closer to remedying this baffling and painful economic crisis, the worse we have seen since the Great Depression," Norton said. "With this action, we can create jobs and lay the foundation to jump start growth with action where it will do the most good."
Norton opposed amendments to gut the bill and decline to give $800 million to Amtrak. She also opposed removing $250 million in National Mall revitalization from the bill.
"After withstanding the inauguration onslaught, and 8,000 events a year, with tourists from around the country, it's amazing that this allocation would be demagogued out of the stimulus package by the opposition," Norton said.
