By Brian Faler
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Lawmakers are set to consider a jobs-stimulus package totaling about $80 billion that would provide tax credits to small and medium-sized businesses that hire workers, a Democratic senator said.
The plan, to be presented today to Senate Democrats, would include aid to state governments to prevent layoffs and additional funding for infrastructure projects, said the senator, who asked not be identified. The package also will likely include energy-related provisions such as incentives to weatherize homes, a Senate aide said.
Democratic leaders hope to have the measure on the Senate floor by the second week in February, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The proposal is smaller than an economic aid package approved last month by the House, in part because lawmakers plan to approve extensions in unemployment benefits costing tens of billions as part of separate legislation.
The House plan, costing more than $150 billion, eschewed small business tax cuts in favor of spending $53 billion to extend unemployment benefits including so-called COBRA subsidies to help the jobless buy health insurance.
The Senate proposal comes as lawmakers find themselves under growing pressure, underscored by Republican Scott Brown’s win in last week’s special U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts, to boost the economy before this year’s midterm elections. At the same time, lawmakers are trying to show voters they are serious about taming the government’s spiraling budget deficits.
Pelosi’s Lobbying
That tension could be seen last month when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, had to personally work the chamber floor to win support for that chamber’s jobs package from party colleagues concerned about adding to the government’s $1.4 trillion deficit. The bill passed 217-212, with 38 Democrats voting against it. No Republicans supported the measure.
The House plan would be partially financed by tapping unused money in the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, a proposal Republicans have called a budget gimmick because they say those funds would probably otherwise never be spent.
Republicans, who have been highly critical of the $787 billion stimulus package Congress passed last February, will have enough Senate votes to block the chamber’s aid plan once Brown is sworn into office.
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