House Approves $15 Billion Jobs Measure
House Approves $15 Billion Jobs Measure
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a $15 billion measure intended to spur job creation by granting payroll tax breaks to businesses that hire new workers, hoping to show voters that Congress was doing something about the dismal employment picture. The vote was 217 to 201.
Democratic backers of the plan wanted to get the measure to President Obama’s desk before the monthly employment report on Friday. They characterized the measure, which also funneled an extra $20 billion into road and bridge construction, as just the first step in a broad legislative push to shore up the economy and encourage hiring.
Representative Bob Etheridge, Democrat of North Carolina, said the legislation is “really all about our three most important priorities in this Congress — jobs, jobs, jobs.” He said the bill is a “good step toward rebuilding our job market, but we still have a ways to go.”
Though the measure attracted bipartisan support in clearing the Senate last week, House Republicans were dismissive, saying it was a bill cobbled together by Democrats for political purposes and would do little to create new employment.
“This is a no-jobs bill, this is a faux jobs bill, this is a snowjobs bill,” said Representative Steven C. LaTourette, Republican of Ohio.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expect the Bureau of Labor Statistics to report on Friday that the economy shed about 65,000 nonfarm jobs in February and that the national unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 9.8 percent.
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