2009 Tax Stimulus

In consultation with President Obama, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) as a means of stimulating the American economy.  During congressional negotiations, the Tax Policy Center evaluated various versions of the bill by issuing report cards that graded each provision. TPC also published distributional tables showing the impact of each proposal and selected components.

Tax Stimulus Report Cards

Throughout the legislative process, TPC graded the key tax provisions of the various proposals. The grades reflected how well we thought the measures would boost the economy in the short run, measured per dollar of budget cost.

View TPC’s report card of the final version of ARRA, the Conference Bill

Report Cards of earlier versions of the ARRA

• House Bill 
• Senate Bill 
• Comparison of House and Senate Bills

Tax Stimulus Distributional Tables

View a variety of tables and Excel spreadsheets showing the distributional effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Other Tax Policy Center Resources

• View TPC's tracking of the legislative process in 2009, including report cards and distribution tables of the various proposals that Congress debated
• TaxVox blog entries on the 2009 economic stimulus:
  • Before and during the debate
    • The Stimulus Act and the Limits of Tax Credits (February 26, 2009)
    • Congress is Missing An Easy Way to Get Cash to Businesses (February 13, 2009)
    • Big Spending Moderates (February 11, 2009)
    • Stimulus and States (February 10, 2009)
    • Stimulating the Stimulus—unemployment compensation (February 6, 2009)
    • Stimulating the Stimulus—child credit and EITC (February 4, 2009)
    • Will the Tax Cuts Help Fix the Economy? (January 23, 2009)
    • Great Expectations (December 23, 2008)
    • More TaxVox entries from January 2009
    • More TaxVox entries from February 2009
  • After the debate
    • The Homebuyer Tax Credit: When Will They Ever Learn? (October 22, 2009)
    • Did the Stimulus Work? (August 27, 2009)
    • Where’s My Stimulus? (April 27, 2009)

See all TaxVox entries on Economic Stimulus

• Experiment to Get Best Stimulus Results – commentary from Len Burman
• Quick Facts on Economic Stimulus - what makes for "good" and "bad" stimulus.
• Biggest Bang for the Buck: Researchers Weigh Stimulus Proposals.  Economic stimulus plans in 2009 addressed a multitude of potential remedies. At the time, Urban Institute researchers took a closer look at key components and their potential impact on recovery.

Other Resources

• The Joint Committee on Taxation's estimate of the revenue effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) 
• Conference report regarding tax, unemployment, health, state fiscal relief, and other provisions in ARRA
• The Congressional Budget Office’s cost estimate for the enacted bill
• Text of the tax provisions in the ARRA