Copyright 2009 Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Congressional Quarterly Today November 4, 2009 Wednesday
LENGTH: 448 words
HEADLINE: Unemployment Benefits Bill Ready for Final Passage in Senate
BYLINE: By Greg Vadala, CQ Staff
Legislation to extend unemployment benefits and expand a popular tax credit for homebuyers overcame the last in a string of Senate procedural hurdles Wednesday, but it may have to wait one more day to cross the finish the line.
Senators voted 97-1 to invoke cloture and limit debate on the bill (HR 3548). The Senate could finish action on the measure later Wednesday if senators reach an agreement to yield back remaining floor time. Otherwise, the final passage vote would occur Thursday.
South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint was the lone senator to cast a "no" vote on Wednesday.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said early Wednesday that the clock on the 30 hours of post-cloture debate will run as if cloture was invoked at 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday night.
"That's a short way to say we wasted another day yesterday," Reid said as he accused Republicans of delaying action on the bill and squandering floor time.
"Yesterday, Republicans used every trick in the book to slow and stall and ensure we can't do important work," Reid said.
The legislation has broad support from senators on both sides of the aisle. But Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said that the slow progress on finishing the bill stems from Reid's refusal to accept a narrow list of amendments, including a proposal to sunset the Troubled Asset Relief Program (PL 110-343) created last year to bail out the financial sector.
Under a previous agreement, the Senate adopted by voice vote a substitute amendment to the bill, which would incorporate the homebuyer tax credit extension and provisions to allow money-losing businesses to use their current losses to offset profits over the past five years and receive a tax refund. The Senate voted 85-2 on Nov. 2 to limit debate on that package.
The unemployment extension would allow workers in all 50 states to draw 14 weeks of federal unemployment benefits after exhausting their regular 26 weeks of state compensation. It would provide an additional six weeks in states with unemployment rates higher than 8.5 percent.
The House version of the bill, which passed 331-83 on Sept. 22, would provide an additional 13 weeks of benefits only to jobless people in high-unemployment states.
Currently, workers who have exhausted their regular 26 weeks of benefits are eligible for 20 weeks of extended benefits. Those in states with an unemployment rate above 6 percent can get an extra 33 weeks. The provisions, enacted in last year's supplemental spending bill (PL 110-252) and extended in this year's stimulus law (PL 111-5), are set to expire Dec. 31.
Source: CQ Today
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LOAD-DATE: November 4, 2009
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