Reid Introduces Scaled-Down Jobs Bill

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said today “the Senate will move to a smaller, more scaled back version of a jobs creation bill,” First Read reports.

Hours earlier the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Finance Committee had offered a large sweeping jobs creation bill.

Reid said the Senate will take up other sections of the Finance Committee bill later, but that this smaller bill represents the "first phase" of the Democrats "job agenda."

This Senate Democratic job creation bill “is a simplified, focused effort that is geared toward making our economy thrive again,” according to a press release issued today.

Here are four major aspects of the bill as discussed in the release:

• Schumer-Hatch Jobs Payroll Tax Exemption: offers an exemption from social security payroll taxes for every worker hired in 2010 that has been unemployed for at least 60 days.  There would also be an additional $1,000 income tax credit for every new employee retained for 52 weeks to be taken on the employer’s 2011 income tax return. 
• Section 179 Expensing: helps small businesses grow by allowing them to write off more of their expenditures
• Highway Trust Fund Extension: extends existing highway programs which provide states and localities with the certainty they need to make decisions on projects.  It allows for billions more to be invested in infrastructure throughout the nation and saves one million jobs.
• Expanding Build America Bonds: allows state and local governments to borrow at lower costs to finance more infrastructure projects and put people to work.

What about the bill offered earlier today by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA)? 

POLITICO reports that Reid “killed the bill after hearing complaints from members of his own caucus who argued that Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) had gone too far beyond the core goal of job creation in order to win Republican support.”

A spokesperson for Senator Grassley sends over this statement:

“Senator Reid’s announcement sends a message that he wants to go partisan and blame Republicans when Senator Grassley and others were trying to find common ground on solutions to help get the economy back on track and people back to work.  Senator Reid did this just as Republican senators were saying they liked things in the Baucus-Grassley draft, which would have prevented billions of dollars in tax increases and offset any spending.  It extended the biodiesel tax credit, which has meant lost jobs in biodiesel production in Iowa, and extended important tax relief for flood recovery and rebuilding.  The Majority Leader pulled the rug out from work to build broad-based support for tax relief and other efforts to help the private sector recover from the economic crisis.”

Update: Reid has filed cloture on this legislation.  That procedural vote will take place on Monday, February 22 when members return from their week-long President’s Day recess.

(credit image – getty)