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How Obama plan could touch Long Islanders

BY CRAIG GORDON AND NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON | craig.gordon@newsday.com;

November 6, 2008

New president, same big problems and no time to waste.

President-elect Barack Obama won't take office until January but Long Islanders could start seeing the effects of his election in less than two weeks, as Democrats in Congress pass a second stimulus bill to jump-start the teetering economy.

That plan is expected to include upward of $100 billion for job-creating school, road, bridge and mass-transit improvements - with New York-area planners already teeing up projects they hope the feds find worthy.

But that's just the start of a sweeping legislative agenda that has some Democrats talking of a "New New Deal" - dialing back Reagan-era deregulation and expanding the government's reach in health care, banking and other industries.

Obama's agenda would touch the lives of Long Islanders from all walks of life - from modest tax cuts for the middle class to tax hikes for the wealthy and not-so-wealthy. About 300,000 uninsured Island residents could get a shot at health insurance. Renewable energy projects for the Island might get a second look, supporters hope.

It's an activist agenda - potentially limited by two wars, the economic meltdown and a federal deficit that will top $1 trillion - but Obama's plan will have a massive reach.

"Democrats think that a new era is dawning, that the time of conservative government and financial deregulation is over, and there needs to be a more active federal oversight role," said Darrell West, who studies governance at the Brookings Institution. "People want a sense that Obama has big ideas."

Here are six ways Obama's plans could touch Long Island:

1 THE ECONOMY

The stimulus plan is expected to be different from the first, which focused on sending out tax rebate checks. This one is expected to focus more on the "prime the pump" idea - parceling out billions around the country to nitty-gritty public works projects to create jobs.

It's too early to tell which projects might be picked, but Neysa Pranger, a spokeswoman for the Regional Plan Association in New York, said the early word is that feds will be looking for projects where they could spend cash fast, particularly those already in the works. While projects such as the Second Avenue Subway and Long Island Rail Road East Side Access need money, smaller projects might get a closer look, such as replacing seven highway bridges in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

2 TAXES

Obama scored points in the campaign by pledging tax relief to 95 percent of Americans. It's that other 5 percent - many of whom live on high-cost Long Island - who will pay more, in part because Obama plans to eliminate the Bush tax cut for the wealthiest Americans.

The details of how much more high earners will pay are unclear - but Long Island has its share, roughly 94,000 households earning more than $200,000 a year.

But Obama made clear he was trying to shift the tax burden to the wealthy and offer relief to middle-class and working-class families.

The median household income on Long Island is about $90,000 in Nassau and $83,000 in Suffolk - and a family of four in that income range would get back $1,000 under Obama's plan, according to a tax calculator on his campaign Web site. A family of four making half that also would get back $1,000

3 HEALTH INSURANCE

Barack Obama's health care plan would give the 300,000 uninsured Long Islanders a chance to buy affordable health care through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The benefits package, which is identical to what members of Congress get now, would include coverage of all essential medical services.

Under Obama's plan, children would be required to have coverage and the plan would also expand coverage for young people under the age of 25 by giving them coverage under their parents' plans.

Fred Barba, executive vice president of the Long Island Association, said Obama's plan would mean "most Long Islanders would have health insurance for themselves and their families, and that's significant."