U.S. House Democratic leaders have set a vote for Thursday on a proposed 90 percent tax on executive bonus payments by companies receiving more than US$5 billion in federal bailout funds.

The bill is a response to the national furor that erupted this week when it was learned that American International Group Inc. paid US$165 million in bonuses to 4,600 employees, including many in the financial products unit whose investments brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy.

"I expect it to pass in overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told reporters Wednesday in Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said: "The American people are very upset about what they've heard about bonuses."

Companies covered by the legislation have received 75 percent of federal bailout funds, according to the House Ways and Means Committee.

"We go far beyond AIG, Citibank, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and others," said committee Chairman Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat. "This is not going to happen again, the light is flashing and letting them know that America won't take it."

The bill was being drafted Wednesday as AIG Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy told a House Financial Services subcommittee that he asked employees who got bonuses over US$100,000 to repay half. AIG so far has received US$173 billion in federal bailout funds.