Senate Passes HIRE Act

Senate Democrats gained their first legislative success of the year on Feb. 24, when the Senate voted 70-28 on Feb. 24 to pass a $15 billion jobs package.

Thirteen Republicans joined 55 Democrats and two independents to vote for H.R. 2847, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) was the only Democrat to vote against it.

Democratic leaders must now reconcile the differences between the Senate bill and a much larger House jobs bill, which costs $154 billion.

The Senate bill included the following four components, as reported by the Associated Press: a $13 billion tax credit for employers who hire new workers; greater flexibility of businesses to write off capital expenditures; $2 billion in Build America Bonds to lower municipal borrowing costs; and a $20 billion transfer in highway funding, which did not require a spending offset and counts toward the overall cost of the legislation.

The jobs bill did not include an extension of expiring unemployment insurance and COBRA health insurance funding. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) indicated he would introduce a separate bill to extend those subsidies.

Date Posted: March 2, 2010