UPDATE 3-U.S. Congress passes stimulus bill, sends to Bush

(Adds Paulson on timing of rebate check distribution, paragraph 4)

By Donna Smith and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress passed a nearly $152 billion plan on Thursday to stave off an election-year recession by sending government rebate checks to millions of Americans and providing business tax incentives to boost spending.

Moving quickly to get the economic package to President George W. Bush, the House of Representatives passed the bill by 380-34, just hours after the Senate cleared the measure on a vote of 81-16. Bush is expected to sign the bill next week.

The legislation will provide one-time rebates of up to $600 for individuals or $1,200 for couples, plus $300 for each child. Low-income people, including retirees on Social Security and disabled veterans who pay no income taxes, would receive checks of $300. The rebates would start to phase out for people with taxable incomes of more than $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples.

At a news conference with congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the rebate checks would go to more than 130 million Americans. "We're going to have the checks out beginning of May and this is largely going to be done by the time summer's over," he added.

Bush praised the final package.

"This plan is robust, broad-based, timely, and it will be effective," he said in a statement. "This bill will help to stimulate consumer spending and accelerate needed business investment."

The final bill was broader than the original House-passed package backed by Bush. The Senate added the elderly and disabled veterans who had been left out of the House bill. To win more Republican support in the closely divided Senate, Democrats had to drop demands for benefits for long-term unemployed workers and other provisions that would have helped low-income people pay heating bills and home builders write off current year losses against previous tax years.