The National Retail Federation welcomed today's Senate approval of economic stimulus legislation that would boost consumer spending by providing taxpayers with rebate checks.
“Expanding the rebate checks to include retirees and disabled veterans is a win-win strategy,” NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations Steve Pfister said. “Retirees and veterans not only deserve a check, but are also among those most likely to spend the rebates so that this money gets put to work in the economy right away.
The most important thing is that Congress is moving quickly, because stimulus legislation needs to be timely in order to be effective. These are very reasonable changes in the House bill, and we urge the House to agree to them and get the bill onto President Bush's desk as soon as possible.”
“We agree with economists who say that boosting consumer spending is the quickest way to get the economy back on track,” Pfister said. “Consumer spending represents 70 percent of our nation's economy. Money that consumers spend in retail stores supports every job behind every product on the shelf and has a ripple effect throughout the economy.”
The Senate voted 81-16 to approve H.R. 5140, the Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008, after amending the House-passed bill to add Social Security recipients and disabled veterans to the list of those eligible to receive rebate checks while barring checks for illegal immigrants.
NRF is leading the retail industry's fight for passage of economic stimulus legislation. The NRF Board of Directors last month passed a resolution urging Bush and Congress to act after the nation's slowing economy resulted in the smallest holiday sales growth in five years at 3 percent and NRF issued its 2008 forecast calling for 3.5 percent growth, the lowest increase since 2002.
National Retail Federation
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