FY 2009 President’s Budget Proposal
On Feb. 4, the President will release his FY 2009 budget proposal. NCSL will provide an analysis of the budget and its priorities early next week.  A copy of the President’s budget also will be available online at: http://www.budget.gov.

Economic Stimulus Package
On Jan. 30, the Senate Finance Committee passed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. On Jan. 28, House adopted the Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008 (H.R. 5140). The Senate will debate both bills early next week. Table 1 outlines their differences.  

Table 1.
	House	Senate
Cost of Stimulus Package	$146 billion	$161 billion
Tax Rebates (individuals)	$300 (minimum) $600 (maximum)	$500
Tax Rebates (married, filing jointly)	$600 (minimum) $1200 (maximum)	$1000
Tax Rebate per child	$300 per child	$300 per child
Minimum Income Threshold for Tax Rebate Eligibility	$3000 of earned income	$3000 of earned income, including Social Security
Reduction of Tax Rebate Amount Based Upon Income	$75,000 (individuals) $150,000 (married, filing jointly)	$150,000 (individuals) $300,000 (married, filing jointly)
Disabled Veterans Eligibility	Not included	Disabled veterans are eligible for a rebate if they receive at $3000 in non-taxable disability compensation
Illegal Aliens Eligibility	No	No
Carryback Loss-Allowance	Not included	Up to 5 years
Business Write-off Increase	Increases from $128,000 to $250,000	Increases from $128,000 to $250,000
Property Value Limitation for a Business Write-off	Increases from $510,000 to $800,000	Increases from $510,000 to $800,000
Accelerated Bonus Deprecation Allowance	50 percent in FY 2008	25 percent in FY 2008 25 percent in FY 2009
Extension of Unemployment Benefits	Not included	13 weeks extension, plus an additional extension for states with sustained unemployment rates
Energy Tax Credits	Not included	$5.6 billion to extend various credits
Housing Loan Increase	Increases loan limits on mortgages bought by Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac	Not included

Homeland Security Grant Guidance
On Feb. 1, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the FY 2008 Grant Guidance for the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), which includes the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP) and the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI). The guidance describes the HSGP application and corresponding deadlines for grant applications.

Additional information is available at: www.dhs.gov

Real ID Extensions
On Jan 29, the final regulations to implement the Real ID were published in the Federal Register –73 Fed. Reg. 5272 (January 29, 2008)— a mere 102 days away from the implementation deadline. Under the regulations, states will have until March 31, to seek an initial extension of the Real ID compliance date. States driver's licenses and identification cards will not be accepted for federal purposes after May 11 unless a state is deemed compliant with the Real ID or a state has been approved for an extension by DHS. To learn more visit: http://www.ncsl.org/realid/.

A copy of the regulations are available on-line at http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=893396149635+0+1+0&WAISaction=retrieve

Real ID Grant Program
On Jan. 28, DHS announced an extension of the Real ID Grant program deadline until March 7. The extension was granted as DHS incorporated an additional $50 million into the program, which was appropriated in the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill (Public Law 110-5). The grant program will allow states to compete for approximately $80 million in funds to assist with the implementation of the Real ID. According to DHS, the costs for states to implement the Real ID will not exceed $3.9 billion.

Congressional Earmarks
On Jan. 29, the President issued Executive Order 13457, which directs federal agencies to ignore earmarks that are not included in the text of a law after FY 2008. Earmarks included in committee and conference reports would be excluded under this order. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/print/20080129-5.html

NCSL Spring Forum
The NCSL Spring Forum is set for April 22- 26, 2008, in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit: http://www.ncsl.org/forum/