The $787 billion economic stimulus package that supporters say will create or save about 59,000 Colorado jobs is on its way to President Barack Obama's desk.
Republican leaders blasted the plan in a radio ad campaign running in Colorado as "a trillion-dollar ... bill chock full of wasteful Washington spending."
Backers of the package say its Colorado impact will include $752 million to bolster the state budget and $500 million to promote energy, education, and transportation programs in the state.
"This is a major milestone on our road to recovery," Obama said Saturday in his weekly Internet and radio address .
He said he would sign the measure "shortly, and we'll begin making the immediate investments necessary to put people back to work doing the work America needs done."
A compromise version of the measure, blending elements of bills passed separately by the Senate and House, passed both houses of Congress on Friday on party-line votes.
A 60-38 vote for the legislation by the U.S. Senate late Friday night followed House approval earlier in the day.
"We came together [Friday] to enact an economic recovery plan that creates jobs, cuts taxes for American families and businesses, and lays the foundation for long-term economic growth," Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said in a statement.
“This plan provides Colorado with over $500 million for targeted investments in energy, education, and transportation that will help create jobs and grow our economy. It also provides millions of dollars in tax relief to middle-class Colorado families and gives tens of thousands of struggling students up to $2,500 dollars in assistance to put college within their reach," Bennet said.
“We have a very tough road ahead and our situation will not change overnight. We still face significant challenges in our housing and banking sectors that need to be addressed. But now, with the passage of this legislation, we can begin the difficult task of rebuilding our economy and putting America back to work,” he added.
Bennet and Colorado's other senator, Democrat Mark Udall, served on a group of about 20 senators who pruned the Senate version of the package to help win more votes for it.
Only three GOP senators -- Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania as well as Susan Collins and Olympia Snow of Maine -- voted for the stimulus package, despite Obama's earlier efforts to win more Republican support.
In the House, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, was among those who voted for the package.
"The bottom line is this measure is a substantial step forward in getting our country on track so people can afford to sell their homes, pay for college and retire when they want to,” Perlmutter said in a statement Friday.
“In order to get our economy back on track, not only do we need make the broad investments provided for under this legislation in health care, education, and infrastructure, we need to continue working with the administration to address foreclosures and the troubled financial sector," said another supporter, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver.
Republican leaders blasted the plan -- and used to it attack Democrats in Congress whom they see as vulnerable for supporting the measure.
"A stimulus bill that was supposed to be timely, targeted and temporary is none of the above," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday on the Senate floor, the Associated Press reported. "And this means Congress is about to approve a stimulus that's unlikely to have much stimulative effect."
The National Republican Campaign Committee is running radio ads attacking two Colorado Democratic U.S. House members -- Betsy Markey and John Salazar -- for supporting what the ads call "a trillion-dollar spending bill chock full of wasteful Washington spending instead of working across the aisle to create real jobs for struggling middle-class families,” the Colorado Independent reported Friday.
Markey and Salazar represent congressional districts that were carried by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the November presidential election.
Obama plans to come to Denver on Tuesday as part of an ongoing effort to win public support for the plan. Details of the visit have not been announced.
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