Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in the nation’s capital today meeting with senators and representatives to lobby for more stimulus money for the city, as lawmakers from both houses work to hammer out a compromise bill on the economic stimulus plan.

Negotiators for Congress and the White House have tentatively agreed on a $790 billion price tag, after extensive meetings to whittle down the $838 billion package.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 61 to 37 in favor of its $838 billion version of the plan, with three Republicans giving their support.

Many Republicans are still unhappy with the plan, while Democratic leaders say there’s no time to waste.

“Tens of thousands of Americans are losing their jobs every day,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Six hundred thousand of them lost their jobs in the month of January. We cannot lose any more time.”

“As we have repeatedly said, it is entirely too large and entirely too untargeted,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican.

Democratic officials say they are looking to resolve some key differences in the two versions.

President Barack Obama says he wants to restore money to build and repair schools and to give cash to states to help with their budget problems.

In regards to schools funding, Bloomberg will being joined on his trip to Washington by United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

The pair is meeting with New York’s Democratic congressional delegation, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, and three mayors from California.

They’ll wrap up the day with a meeting with Senator Ted Kennedy’s chief of staff and Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Also traveling to Capitol Hill today are top banking executives. They are scheduled to tell Congress what they did with the billions paid out in last fall’s financial bailout package.

Executives from eight of the nine banks that received a total of $125 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program are set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee.

They include representatives from Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.

The executives are expected to assure legislators that taxpayer money really did help increase lending – addressing concerns about big bonuses and dividends.

The hearings are part of a congressional push to examine whether the plan has had any success in thawing the frozen credit market.

It comes one day after Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner revealed the updated plan to rescue the nation’s financial system. The plan is aimed at financing up to a trillion dollars in business and consumer loans, and provides government backing for investors willing to buy up bad assets.

(Source: NY1)