Senate Jobs Bill Update

Last week, the Senate Democratic leadership introduced a Jobs Bill Agenda (which can be read at http://democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=322107&) that covers a number of areas, including funds for states to shore up funding for education.

The Senate leadership indicated that the Senate will move individual bills that cover a number of areas as opposed to a single jobs bill such as the one passed by the House. Yesterday, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced the first part of a series of bills. The introduced bill would provide $15 billion in tax cuts, with the bulk of the funding intended to help employers hire new employees. With the Congressional recess approaching next week, it is unclear when the Senate will move this bill and other bills that cover parts of the Jobs Bill Agenda. The bill can be viewed at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?r111:./temp/~r111kLYGMn

Last year, the House of Representatives passed the “Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010” by a 217-212 vote. The act provides $154 billion for a number of programs. Most importantly, $23 billion will be available to states as part of an “Education Jobs Fund” over the next two years. 95% of the funds will be allocated by states to school districts and public institutions of higher education to retain or create jobs that provide educational services and to modernize, renovate, and repair public education facilities.

The bill provides $750 million in competitive grants to train workers for jobs in high-growth fields. The bill also provides $300 million for the Federal Work Study Program.

The summary of the bill can be found here: http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/Jobs_for_Main_Street_Act_of_2010_Summary.pdf.

The bill can be found here: http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/2010_Jobs_For_Main_Street_Bill_Text.pdf.