Introduction
According to (Snyder, 2008), stimulus package is the funds spent by a government or measures put on tax payments to help in reviving its depressed economy. The government of United States has undergone a major recession and is therefore employing a stimulus package to revive it. This package will cut on the amount of taxes paid by Americans which will result to increased demand for goods and services thereby boosting American economy. The package that has been passed through the stimulus bill amounts to seven hundred and eighty seven billion dollars. This money is supposed to be distributed accordingly to the most affected areas of American economy. Texas is one of the states expected to receive a share of funds in this stimulus package which will help it revive its economic situation.
Ways in Which Stimulus Package Will Help Texas
The funds in this package will be in form of cuts on tax payments which will then be divided among several areas of Texas Economy one of them being housing. The package is expected to allow those Texans purchasing houses or cars get a tax credit of an average of eight thousand dollars which should not be refunded to the government. However, even if this amount accounts for a small section of the total cost of houses, it will still assist those purchasing houses and on the other hand increase demand for house purchases. Though some Texans doubt whether this will have an immediate effect on housing industry, they agree that the sale of houses will considerably increase. According to Goldwasser, a realtor in one of Texas’ real estates supports the expected positive effect of stimulus package as he has already figured out some changes in the market for real estates. He supports his observation by saying that, a number of houses have already been constructed to cater for increasing demand for houses. This increase in demand is primarily because of the provision of tax credits for those wanting to buy houses which will affect Texas’ economy positively.
Another area that will be covered by the package is energy, where part of the funds in this package will be used to create an environment of clean energy for Texans. They will be provided with tax credits which will help them weatherize their houses. Weatherizing of houses will involve improving levels of efficiency of energy in their homes. It will also offer training programs where people will be trained on how to conserve energy. It is also expected that, the package will cater for health services where Texas’ workers who benefit from unemployment checks will be considered for Medicaid. This is a program that offers medical care to Americans who earn low incomes but this stimulus package might also include children and other citizens with higher earnings. Out of the fifteen dollars allocated to cater for health care provision, Texas will get nine hundred and fifty two million dollars. A subsidy will also be accorded to those workers who might have lost their jobs so that they are able to keep the medical care plans they previously had with their former employers. (Snyder, 2008)
(Snyder, 2008) found that, broadband will get a share of this package where some funds will be allocated to its deployment in Texas. This comes as a result of the current government’s consideration of internet to be as important as other infrastructure such as highways, to Texans. Funds allocated for extension of broadband services will be distributed to companies so as to assist in providing internet services to Texas areas with no access as well as those with poor internet services. However, several Texans have questioned this particular allocation arguing that, other companies have already deployed these services to a large portion of Texas and that, grants to deploy more internet services in the same area would not be appropriate. On the other hand, another group of Texans disagree with such critics as they regard the ninety dollars monthly pay for the available satellite broadband to be very expensive for quite a large number of lowly paid consumers.
According to (Snyder, 2008) this particular stimulus package will also cater for Texas jobless population because; a share that amounts to five hundred and fifty five million dollars has been allocated to them. This amount is supposed to be shared among the unemployed as their unemployment benefits and will be distributed in form of twenty five million dollars in benefit checks provided to them on weekly basis. The increased checks are supposed to flow throughout 2009 and this will not only benefit the unemployed but also the whole economy of Texas in form of cash flow. The formula is expected to work because; when the unemployed are provided with these funds, it is almost certain that they will spend it immediately thereby increasing cash flow in the economy. This package will also offer some additional useful measures to Texas’ jobless population, by including an increase of the period that the unemployed are expected to enjoy unemployment benefits. An average of thirty three more weeks has been added to the regular period and this extension of benefits is expected to continue throughout 2009.
Another additional measure through the stimulus package will involve a reduction in the amount that is taxed from unemployment benefits, in order to leave Texas’ jobless population with as much money as possible. However, Perry who is the Governor representing Texas turned down the package’s share allocated to serve as unemployment benefits for Texas jobless population which resulted to a heated argument between him and President Obama as well as other Texans who felt that his decision was political. Texans who are against Perry’s decision argue that, he is becoming selfish since he only wants to play political games with funds that are supposed to be helping Texas’ jobless population. However, those supporting him argue that, Texas’ failure to accept unemployment benefits will save it from paying back funds that may be required later to repay the amount being used in this particular stimulus package. In the process of implementing this stimulus package, American government has shown interests in running some companies such as general motors so as to make the proposed programs a success. This is not expected to take place directly but in form of bail outs. Some funds of the package have been distributed to selected companies among them being Citibank and general motors, which will allow taxpayers to monitor as well as question on the operations of these companies. However, the government might fail to run such companies through bail outs as they might turn out to benefit some individuals rather than the American economy as a whole.
Conclusion
It’s therefore evident that, the package will be of great help to Texas and its residents as it will help in reviving the depressed economy. However, some allocations of this package have been questioned like that of bailing out various companies. This practice may not work since some companies might mismanage the funds by increasing their salaries and/or excessive advertisements instead of increasing their production. Texans should therefore give the stimulus package a chance for trial because; it is promising to be a solution to the current economic crisis. (Snyder, 2008)
References
Snyder S. (2008): Economic Budget Outlook; Fiscal Years, 2000-2009: Congressional Budget Office.