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The U.S. Congress is set to give final approval today on a $789 billion economic stimulus package after lawmakers worked out last-minute disagreements over executive compensation and taxes.

The House and Senate have scheduled votes on the measure, one of the most expensive bills produced by Congress. Its expected passage in the Democratic-controlled chambers will hand President Barack Obama his first major legislative victory, sending to his desk a plan for government spending and tax cuts that he and other Democrats have said is needed to help right the economy.

“It will create millions of jobs,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said yesterday. “It’s very significant for the American people; in terms of the opportunities for jobs, and tax cuts, and the education of their children, the health of their families.”

Democrats announced Feb. 11 they had reached an agreement that reconciled competing stimulus plans approved by the House and Senate. Still, the party’s congressional leaders spent much of yesterday haggling over the accord’s details.

One dispute focused on how to restrict executive compensation at companies participating in the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. Lawmakers agreed to drop one amendment, sponsored by Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, which would have required firms to pay back the cash portion of bonuses topping $100,000.

Executive Compensation

A second executive compensation amendment by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, proved nettlesome for negotiators. Lawmakers announced late in the day the bill would expand upon pay restrictions announced earlier this month by the Obama administration.

The provision would impose compensation limits on all TARP recipients rather than just those receiving the most assistance. And it requires those recipients to rescind bonuses awarded to their highest-paid workers that were based on earnings statements found to be “materially” inaccurate.

“The decisions of certain Wall Street executives to enrich themselves at the expense of taxpayers have seriously undermined public confidence in efforts to stabilize the economy,” Dodd said. “American taxpayers deserve better.”

Lawmakers also faced objections yesterday from Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine, over the slashing of what had been a sweeping tax cut for businesses.

Proposal Scaled Back

The tax break as proposed would have let all companies except those participating in the TARP program claim an estimated $67 direct lender payday loans.5 billion in refunds this year and next by applying current net operating losses to past profitable years. Negotiators on Feb. 11 scaled back the proposal so that only companies with receipts under $5 million could claim it.

That drew objections from Snowe and Collins, whose support Democrats needed to pass the Senate’s version of the stimulus plan earlier this week. Negotiations raised the threshold for qualifying businesses to those with $15 million in gross receipts, still below the level where large companies could benefit.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said the chamber’s members will begin debating the stimulus package this morning and that a vote is likely in the afternoon.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the vote in his chamber likely will occur late afternoon or early evening.

Text Delayed

The text of the 1,400-page stimulus plan didn’t become publicly available yesterday until about 11 p.m. Washington time. House and Senate Republicans complained during the day that they wouldn’t have enough time to review it and that Democrats were shirking on their commitment to running a more transparent government.

No Republicans in the House voted for that chamber’s bill when it was approved, 244 to 188, last month. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican, suggested yesterday a few party defections may occur today, saying he expected a “fairly unified” vote against it. The House bill’s opponents also included 11 Democrats.

The Senate passed its bill 61 to 37, on Feb. 10, with Republicans Snowe, Collins and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania joining the chamber’s 58 Democrats in supporting it.

One Republican senator, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, abstained from voting because Obama had nominated him to serve as commerce secretary. Gregg yesterday withdrew from consideration for the post, citing policy differences with the administration.

Gregg declined to say the position he’d take today on the stimulus plan. “Can I save that for tomorrow when we vote?” Gregg told reporters when asked yesterday.

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