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The $787-billion measure contains a variety of well-publicized tax breaks for individuals and businesses, money for construction projects, and aid to cash-strapped states.

But among its less-publicized provisions is a one-time payment of $250 to every adult who receives either Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, Railroad Retirement benefits, or certain benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Altogether, rebates will be showered over the coming months on tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders. Nearly 200,000 Rhode Islanders receive Social Security benefits, for example. This suggests that eligible Rhode Islanders could receive more than $50 million in federal rebates overall.

At the Cranston Senior Center on Cranston Street yesterday, several seniors said they will welcome the rebates.

"It's a great idea,'' because it will help cover living expenses, Pagnozzi said. "When you're on a fixed income, it's tough to survive, especially with the price of gas going up."

Gasoline prices have been inching higher over the last seven weeks or so, reaching above the $2 level for the first time since before Thanksgiving.

"In the morning, it's one price. In the afternoon, it's another," Pagnozzi said. The rebate will help him cover the cost of fuel, as well as food and other items, he said.

Others had their own plans. For example, Gwen Ranucci, 67, of Johnston, a teacher's assistant, said she'll probably spend the money on her grandson, whose birthday is coming up.

"We're going to take him out to eat, and he wants to go to Burger King; he doesn't want to go any place else," she said.

The money will not only help her family, but will also help the economy. "They want us to spend it to keep the economy" going, she said, a reference to the legislative intent of the new law.

Fannie Martini, 83, of Cranston, says the money will come in handy. "It's always good, extra money," and can be used to buy food and other items, she said.

She and her husband, Joseph Martini, 86, of Cranston, are both retired from a dry-cleaning and tailoring business, which they helped to operate.

They said they plan to spend at least some of their rebates on their three children, five grandchildren, and two step-grandchildren, for their birthdays.

Before retiring, Angelina Pasquazzi, 84, of Cranston, was a hairdresser. Now she gets by on Social Security retirement benefits, she said.

She can use the money to help pay her home heating-oil bills. She also plans to use it to help pay for those prescription drug costs that are not covered by the prescription-drug portion of the federal Medicare health insurance program.

Anthony DiBiasio, 89, of Cranston, a retired airplane mechanic, said he plans to use the rebate to help pay for the natural gas he uses to heat his home.

And Tom Ardillo, 87, of Cranston, a retired mail carrier, said he plans to give his rebate to his wife, Grace, who probably will distribute the money to their two daughters. "They'll get $125 apiece,'' he said with a laugh.

Some seniors, however, said that the money for rebates would have been better spent elsewhere.

For example, John A. Antoni, 85, of Johnston, a retired marketing services manager, said that the impact of the global recession has not affected him; he receives a U.S. Navy pension as well as Social Security benefits.

As a result, he said the rebate will not be as much of a help to him as it will to others. (He may spend the money on golf or on other sports he enjoys, he said.)

Margaret Pistocco, 70, of Warwick, a retired bookkeeper, said that the money should have been steered toward others.

"I think it would have been better served helping those people who are losing their homes," and to help prop up the nation's troubled banking system, she said.

Mike Bellotti, 88, of Cranston, a retired bakery supervisor, said that many seniors will simply save the money instead of spending it. As a result, business activity will not be stimulated as much as it could have been had the money been used for other purposes, he said.

Before retiring, Ann Tanzi, 75, of Cranston, owned a medical transcription service. "I really don't need [the rebate] to pay any bills or anything. I'm one of the fortunate ones, so I feel the less fortunate should have it," she said.

"I feel as though the economy's so bad, they should give [the rebate funds] to the people who really need it," including those who are losing their homes to foreclosure, and banks that are struggling, she said.

Overall, the government is to issue more than $14 billion in rebates this year, according to a report by Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation.

Recipients will not have to take any action; each payment will arrive automatically, disbursed by the same agency through which they now receive benefits, such as the Social Security Administration or Railroad Retirement Board.

The rebates, technically called "economic recovery payments," are to be made by mid-June, according to a congressional conference committee report.

The economic stimulus law is called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Obama has established a Web site that includes details about the law, as well as links to the full text of the law.