A House-Senate Conference Committee tonight reached final agreement on a stimulus package. The bill agreed to would be valued at $789 billion, and details did remain somewhat sketchy. The New York Times is reporting some details:

Despite intense lobbying by governors, the final deal slashed $35 billion from a proposed state fiscal stabilization fund, eliminated $16 billion in aid for school construction and sharply curtailed health care subsidies for the unemployed.

In driving down the total cost of the stimulus bill — from $838 billion approved by the Senate and $820 billion by the House — legislators also sharply reduced proposed tax incentives for buyers of homes and cars that held huge public appeal. Senator Collins said getting the final number to under $800 billion was more than symbolic; it meant “a fiscally responsible number,” she said.

A $70 billion dollar fix to the Alternative Minimum Tax was left in, despite some vehement objections from Democrats in both Houses, who felt that the AMT should have been dealt with in a separate tax bill. Tom Harkin expressed that frustration:

“I am not happy with it,” said Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa. “You are not looking at a happy camper. I mean, they took a lot of stuff out of education. They took it out of health, school construction and they put it more into tax issues.”

Mr. Harkin said he was particularly frustrated by the money being spent on fixing the alternative minimum tax. “It’s about 9 percent of the whole bill,” he said, “which we were going to do later this year in a tax bill. Why is it in there? It has nothing to do with stimulus. It has nothing to do with recovery. This makes no sense whatsoever.”

The AMT fix was needed, but I believe Harkin is right. It should have been dealt with in a tax package. But the centrist coalition has prevailed, eliminating some items badly needed by state and local governments.

Republicans predictably slammed the package:

“Yesterday the Senate cast one of the most expensive votes in history,” the Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said. “Americans are wondering how we’re going to pay for all this. Judging by the market reaction to Secretary Geithner’s announcement yesterday and the newspaper editorials this morning, it’s clear that everyone is looking for a little more detail.”

I will post more bill details as they become available.