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How Does The President's Economic Recovery Plan Affect Travel?

February 18, 2009 at 11:07 AM | by | Comments (2)

Yesterday in Denver, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, his job-creation and spending bill aimed at getting the economy back on track. Comprising $787 billion in spending, there's something for everyone in the stimulus package; while the American Society of Travel Agents called the bill "a missed opportunity" for its failure to help small-business owners, you may already be a winner thanks to infusions for these sectors:

Road-trippers and commuters. -- One provision in the $82.1 billion slice dedicated to tax credit payments will allow buyers of new cars to deduct sales or excise taxes on vehicles up to $49,500 (as long as you make less than $125,000). City dwellers got some goodies too: You can now set aside $230 a month in pre-tax dollars to pay for public transit to get to work (up from $120) if your employer participates in a program like TransitChek.

Super-fast trains. -- $8 billion (or 1 percent) of the bill is earmarked for high-speed rail projects, including Nevada Senator Harry Reid's pet project, an Anaheim-to-Las Vegas line powered by magnetic levitation. Aichi, Japan and Shanghai, China already have these kinds of super-fast trains. (An Anaheim-to-San Francisco route is also planned, with track to L.A. scheduled for completion as soon as 2015.) But the dream of going from Disney to Sin City in under 2 hours already got a $45 million infusion last year.

The big losers? Business-travel purveyors. A late-stage amendment prevents companies getting TARP funds from the government from "excessive expenditures," which may include corporate retreats. The president specifically targeted company meetings in Vegas as an example of what not to do if you're a bank, and Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs listened. But Vegas' loss could be a gain for post-industrial cities looking to gain a foothold in the convention business -- nothing glamorous about Spokane or Detroit, right?

Related Stories:
· Taking Apart the Stimulus Package [Washington Post]
· Home and car buyers get tax breaks in stimulus package [USA Today]
· Stimulus funds could fuel Anaheim's fast trains [OC Register]
· Business travel boosters go on the offensive [Las Vegas Sun]
· Opinion: Stimulus bill amendment could hurt Las Vegas [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

[Photo of a Seattle adult-entertainment marquee: djbones]

Comments (2)

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magnetic levitation sounds cool, but

was the country really clamoring for an anaheim-vegas connection? How bout they invest in making the NE corridor amtrak affordable, fast, and able to meet schedules (or at least one out of three)
BS on February 18, 2009 at 11:58 AM #Permalink

BS, your wish has been granted

Acela tickets are dropping in price by 25%. Yeah, I know, still doesn't make them a great deal, but it's slightly better.

From what I have read, the train, which I personally think would be fun to take, is Reid's pet project that he got funding for in the Bush years by negotiating with the president for some pork in exchange for support.
egw on February 18, 2009 at 8:53 PM #Permalink

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