John Lagomarcino has been appointed Of Counsel in our Washington office.

When Congress returns this week after its version of Spring Break, they will face an economy that is challenged yet hard to read. They will start work on FY2009 appropriations bills that must fit into a budget resolution with pretty severe limits on spending. And there is an Administration in the White House that is determined to adhere to its discretionary spending limits. How does that list of constraints fit in with the $140 billion in economic stimulus that was passed into law in February? It doesn’t. That was considered to be emergency spending and does not count as part of either FY2008 or FY2009 spending. State and local government officials are still hoping that the Congress will consider a second stimulus package this year – this one focused on spending for ready-to-go water, sewer, transportation and other infrastructure projects. Their argument is that not only do we put people to work with these projects; we make a permanent investment in our communities. Don’t expect the second package discussion to move very far in the next few weeks, however. Congress will likely wait and see what impact the tax rebates to individuals has (in May and June) before they consider additional economic stimulus.