By Erin McNeill, CQ Staff

Democrats will have a hard time passing another economic stimulus package in the remaining weeks of the congressional session, even though the nation’s economic outlook remains bleak, a top official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Thursday.

“We’re in for a rough road over the next couple of quarters,” Martin Regalia, the chamber’s chief economist, said at the group’s annual Labor Day briefing. “I don’t think at this point there is a whole lot we can do about it.”

Democratic leaders are pushing for a follow up to the economic stimulus plan (PL 110-185) Congress approved and President Bush signed in February.

“The House will soon act on additional broad-based economic recovery and energy plans that will create new American jobs, make energy more affordable, independent and green, and mark an essential shift from the failed Bush policies Republicans in Congress have rubber-stamped for far too long,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., said in a statement last week.

Republicans have argued that it would premature to approve another stimulus package.

Although the first package put cash in the hands of consumers and kept the economy growing in the second quarter, Regalia said he expects the economy to slip into recession by the end of the year.

He argued that a second stimulus would do little to improve the nation’s long-term economic problems, and could hurt by contributing to inflation and the budget deficit.

Regalia also said passage of legislation extending popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals (HR 6049, S 3335) wouldn’t have a short-term benefit. Democrats have struggled to get the legislation through the Senate in the face of staunch Republican opposition to offsetting the cost of extending existing tax breaks.

Business groups support the “extenders,” but have been reluctant to choose sides in the battle over offsets, which Democrats insist on to comply with pay-as-you-go budget rules.

The offsets essentially mean taxes are shifted to other businesses, which pits some members of the chamber against others, Regalia said.

Wage and Workplace Issues

Randel Johnson, vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits for the chamber, said the group was committed to fighting legislation affecting union organizing, paid leave and equal pay as Congress heads toward adjournment.

All are top priorities for Democrats and their union allies, who argue that the issues are popular with voters.