The words “progress” and “Congress” have a hard time finding themselves in the same sentence these days, but substantial signs of hope have been raised with the recent continued stages of passage of the $15 billion Jobs Bill that has seen itself go through the first round of approval through the House and Senate, and passed through the House for the second time last week.
For those who haven’t been keeping their eyes on a political ticker, these $15 billion measures would do a great deal to increase potential employment for entry-level job seekers and the unemployed population as a whole. Particularly, the latest version of this bill passed includes a Social Security tax break for companies hiring new employees. In order to cater to select members on both sides of Cognress to ensure passage, some measures were removed from the bill.
Employers want that tax break, and can only get it by hiring people like yourselves. Additionally, this version includes one-year reauthorization of the law governing federal highway funding, as well as an expansion of the Build America Bonds program and a provision allowing companies to write off equipment purchases as a business expense. It is speculated that this bill has the potential to create up to 1 million jobs.
Some things have not changed and, like the initial version of Health Care Reform passed, Democrats pushed through the measure on a mainly party-line vote again, this time with a 217-201 decision.
The bill was able to pass through the Senate two weeks back with a vote of 70-28, with 13 Republicans joining 57 Democrats in favor. However, because the House tweaked the bill, it will have to be approved by the Senate one more time before President Obama can sign it into law. The Senate is expected to take it up again this week and dispense several amendments as per usual.
Some of these final amendments will include a proposal by newly-elected Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) to cut payroll taxes across the board for all Americans, and to offset the cost by using unspent funds from last year’s economic stimulus package. Brown delivered the first floor remarks of his Senate career Thursday in support of the amendment.
Look for a few more closed room discussions, back room compromises, and plenty of CNN and Fox News coverage over the next few weeks as the bill passes one final time through the Senate and lands onto President Barack Obama’s desk for signing.
This post was written by Tyrone Gayle, Come Recommended’s public affairs intern.
