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The $787 billion stimulus package passed Friday by Congress includes a little something for almost everybody.

But will it be enough to get people spending again?

That’s the question that will play out over the next few months as the giant bundle of aid, tax cuts and direct government spending filters out into the broader financial system.

For everyday consumers, the stimulus package will mean a few extra dollars in the paycheck, or a few hundred off the cost of a car. It’ll mean cheaper health insurance if you lose your job, or a tax break on a more efficient new hot water heater.

It doesn’t sound like much, when you think about the nearly unprecedented price tag for it all, but the sentiment from a range of St. Louisans on Friday was that "every little bit helps," and that maybe, just maybe, this will be enough to shove things in the right direction.

TAX RELIEF

The first way most people will see the stimulus is in their paychecks, come June. More than 95 percent of workers will get a tax break of up to $400 this year and next, parceled out a few dollars at a time through a reduction in their income tax withholding (though people can choose to take it all at once). People on Social Security will get $250. It’s not unlike the $500-per-person rebate issued last year, which economists say helped stabilize the economy for a few months. But this time around, it can be spread out.

That’ll make a difference, said Gabrielle Lawson, of Collinsville, as she had lunch Friday at St. Clair Square mall, because it’ll encourage smarter spending than a one-time check.

"Over time, I’d have more money if I’m spending less on taxes," she said. "I don’t remember what I spent the rebate check on."

The next way most working Americans will see the stimulus is when they buy things. The bill includes a slew of tax breaks aimed squarely at the middle class, for education costs, energy-efficient appliances and cars.

There’s a 30 percent tax break on fuel-efficient furnaces, hot water heaters and other household fixtures that save energy. That’s good news for Don Loomstein, owner of Empire Supply Co. in Maplewood, who sells windows.

"When I saw that, I thought for my business it’s definitely a good thing," he said.

CARS AND HOUSING

The package also includes a measure to deduct the sales tax on new vehicle purchases, which could save consumers between $300 and $600, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. That could spur an extra 94,000 light-vehicle sales this year, said auto-data firm R.L. Polk and Associates.

To Margaret Randolph of Millstadt, who was shopping Friday at Dave Mungenast St. Louis Honda in south St. Louis County, the tax break would "definitely be a plus," but probably not a deciding factor for her family. She and her husband have to replace an old Ford Bronco, and they’ll do it, tax break or not.

Still, a few local dealers said the deduction would be a good thing.

"It could be a huge amount for people who are on the fence," said Mike Jordan, general manager of Bommarito Chevrolet-Mazda. "It’s going to help us because it’s going to put people in the market who have been waiting instant payday loans completely online."

It also could boost the flagging market for home sales.

The final package includes an expansion of a $7,500 loan program to first-time home buyers that was launched last summer. The loan will now be a gift: $8,000 or 10 percent of the sales price, whichever is less. That’s not as much as the $15,000 credit for all home buyers that was passed by the Senate last week, but it will still make a difference, said Dan Tatum, president of the Realtors Association of Southwestern Illinois.

"It’s relatively minor, but I think it’ll have an impact," he said.

Another big benefit will show itself to people who are laid off.

HELP FOR JOBLESS

There’s $25 billion to pay a big chunk of COBRA benefits — the program that lets people keep health insurance if they lose their job. Currently, people must pay full price for their insurance, typically thousands of dollars a year, but the government will start subsidizing 65 percent of the bill for nine months.

The COBRA benefit could be valuable if the economy turns around fairly soon, said Dr. James Kimmey, president of the Missouri Foundation for Health. "Anything you can do to decrease the number of people who are uninsured is a good thing," he said.

The plan also includes many smaller benefits to help low-income and jobless people. There’s a $25-a-week boost in unemployment benefits, improved access for some families to a $1,000-per-child tax credit and a 13.6 percent hike in food stamp funding.

Those kind of measures help people who need it most, and pump money almost straight into the broader economy, said Amy Smoucha with Missouri Jobs With Justice.

"Folks are hurting. They’re losing jobs and losing health care," she said. "We need job creation, and one of the ways jobs are created is by putting money in the hands of families that will spend it immediately."

Susan Thies, of Swansea, sees that every day. She works two jobs — one at Scott Air Force Base and one at a Limited clothing store in the St. Clair Square mall — to help put her daughter through college. She doesn’t have high hopes for the stimulus package, but she’ll be glad to see people with a little more money in their pockets. "Whenever people come in and buy things," she said, "I always think, ‘Thank you for helping boost the economy.’"

And that’s precisely what this plan will do, said Steven Fazzari, an economics professor at Washington University, by getting people working and buying things again. It may not be enough to turn things all the way around and get the economy growing, but it will, he predicted, make a difference in lots of little ways.

"It’ll never be immediately obvious to most individuals how this package will affect them," Fazzari said. "But it’s going to have a significant effect on the economy as a whole."

tlogan@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8291

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