Oregon Public Broadcasting

As Congress tries to get the  federal economic stimulus package into a final form, April Baer reports that Oregon's Congressional leaders are still working to leave their marks on the bill.

The Senate spent last week working on its own version of the economic stimulus bill.

The House version included money to build schools and bolster state budgets. Moderate Senators rejected those items, but Oregon Congressman Kurt Schrader  is among those hoping that cash can be restored.

Fresh out of the state legislature, Schrader says he knows the money is needed.

Kurt Schrader: “I would have died to have had the federal government in the last recession come in and help us in a big way so we did not have to chop off school days, and become the laughingstock of the nation in the Doonesbury cartoons. We have the opportunity to make ourselves relevant.”

Republicans -- including Oregon Congressman Greg Walden -- sharply criticized the bill for spending too much on bread and butter issues like education and health care, and not enough on job creation.

All of Oregon's Democratic reps voted for the bill, although some, like Peter Defazio, had reservations about the bill's tax cuts, inserted at the insistence of House Republicans - all of whom voted against the bill.

The full Senate may vote as soon as Monday night on its package. Then, the House and Senate versions must be reconciled.

And an expected announcement Tuesday about a new banking industry bailout bill could throw a curve into the stimulus debate.