Is a $789 billion stimulus package better than a $838 billion one? Hard to say. Is it better than nothing?

Absolutely.

No one will be fully satisfied with the stimulus agreement hammered out yesterday by House and Senate negotiators.

In an effort to get the cost below $800 billion — a key demand from three GOP senators in exchange for their support — there will be favored projects reduced or left on the cutting-room floor.

About $25 billion was trimmed from a "stabilization fund" to help state and local governments ease the pain of budget shortfalls. Hawai'i lawmakers have been anxiously hoping for a chunk of that fund, designed to help fill gaps in education spending.

Other parts of the package of interest to Hawai'i — including Medicaid, school construction, Community Development Block Grants for counties, transportation infrastructure and low-income housing — were among the federal spending initiatives that needed to be balanced with tax relief.

Nonetheless, it's important progress. Earlier versions of the plan, which reached nearly $1 trillion in cost, were clearly bloated with spending not directly related to the problem at hand — keeping businesses in business and saving jobs.

And with the loss of nearly 600,000 jobs in January, and 3.6 million lost since the recession began, the need to get a stimulus package to the president's desk has become more urgent than ever.

Businesses and individuals need relief. State and local governments need to make decisions and can't wait indefinitely for the federal government to act. They need to put the stimulus money to use as soon as it's available, to get people back to work and the economy moving again.

It's time to act.