Senate Democrats Thursday were forced to accept a Republican-crafted economic stimulus package that was stripped of any tax credits for renewable energy and subsidies to offset the heating bills of low-income households.

By 81-16, the Senate voted out the Republican stimulus plan (HR 5140), which builds on the $146 billion House package by also including rebates for 21 million low-income seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans and their widows. It specifically excludes rebates for illegal immigrants. The House plan, which is designed to jump-start a lagging economy, would provide rebates to individual taxpayers who earn up to $75,000 and to married couples who earn up to $150,000, as well as provide incentives to businesses. But it does not offer any energy-related incentives.

The House was expected to vote on the Senate package later Thursday. If the House approves it, the bill would be sent to President Bush for his signature.

Democrats reluctantly supported the GOP package after they lost a crucial vote Wednesday night on their stimulus package, which included incentives for marginal oil and natural gas wells, additional subsidies for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and an extension of tax credits for renewable wind and solar energy. Democrats were one vote short of the 60 needed to take up their bill.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky led the Republican opposition to the Democratic stimulus plan, arguing that the energy proposals and other unrelated measures were turning the package into a “Christmas tree” bill that would be vetoed by the president.

The defeat was a major setback for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who had lobbied hard to push the Democratic stimulus plan through the Senate, and other Democrats.

“Democrats want to do more and we were stopped today,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). “We are far from done,” she added, referring to providing additional LIHEAP subsidies, renewable energy tax credits and extending unemployment benefits.

Although not part of the stimulus package, “we still expect that Congress will extend these renewable energy programs for at least one year before they expire at the end of 2008. We expect them to be addressed in the R&D [research and development] tax extenders package, which is [likely] to be taken up by Congress after passage of the stimulus bill,” said energy analyst Christine Tezak of Stanford Group Co.

Randall Swisher, director of the American Wind Energy Association, called on Congress to “move quickly to find another path for a rapid extension of the tax incentives” for renewable energy. He said failure to extend the tax credits this year would put 116,000 jobs and nearly $19 billion in investment in renewable energy industries at risk.

The Internal Revenue Service will begin sending out rebate checks after the completion of the 2007 tax season on April 15.

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