House Passes Senate Jobs Bill with a Slight Change

Today, the House of Representatives passed the first part of the Senate Jobs bill by a 217-201 vote. Prior to passing the bill, the House Democrats changed the effective date of a provision to provide about $2 billion to cover the cost of the bill. Since the House changed the bill, the Senate will have to consider and pass the bill again. If the Senate passes the bill, it will be sent to President Obama for his signature. Meanwhile, the Senate continues to work on passing the second part of the Senate Jobs bill. The Senate is considering amendments to the bill with the goal of final passage sometime next week.

In other news, the White House has called on Congress to pass health-care reform legislation by March 18th. At this time, it appears that Congress will utilize the budget-reconciliation process to pass portions of health-care reform. This is significant because Congress had also considered using the reconciliation process to pass H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA); however, the reconciliation process can only be used once per year. SAFRA has been on hold while health-care reform legislation worked its way through Congress. SAFRA would eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan Program and all new federal student loans would be Direct Loans. Most importantly, SAFRA contains the American Graduation Initiative (AGI) which provides almost $10 billion for community colleges. There is an expectation that the Senate’s version of SAFRA will likely contain less funds for AGI because the increased funds necessary to cover the rise in the number of Pell Grant recipients. If the Senate decides to move to accommodate the March 18th timeframe, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will need to introduce and pass their version of SAFRA soon.

The first part of the Senate’s Jobs bill includes:

1) 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. ($13 billion)
2) Section 179 Expensing: helps small businesses grow by allowing them to write off more of their expenditures.
3) Highway Trust Fund Extension: extends existing highway programs, which provides states and localities with the certainty they need to make decisions on projects.
4) Expansion of Build America Bonds: allows state and local governments to borrow at lower costs to finance more infrastructure projects and put people to work. ($2 billion)

The second part of the Senate’s Jobs bill provides unemployment insurance and COBRA health benefits from February 28, 2010 – December 31, 2010. The total package costs $150 billion. Additionally, the bill extends a number of tax credits that have expired, including the qualified tuition deduction, research and development credit, increased funding for state Medicaid programs, and a number of credits aimed at small businesses. This bill does not include funding for an “Education Jobs Fund.”

To view the press release, go to: http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2010press/prb030110b.pdf Read more!

Secretary Duncan Testifies on Education Budget Request

February 25, 2010 — Today, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan testified before the House Budget Committee to outline the Department’s budget for FY 2011. The budget outlines $10.6 billion for the American Graduation Initiative. Secretary Duncan’s testimony can be found here: http://budget.house.gov/hearings/2010/02.25.2010_Duncan_Testimony.pdf

The Department of Education’s budget information can be found here: http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget11/summary/edlite-section1.html

Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on “A Stronger Workforce Investment System for a Stronger Economy.” Most notably, Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) stated that Congress would pass the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) this year. Dr. Robert Templin, Jr., President of Northern Virginia Community College testified on behalf of community colleges and outlined the priorities of AACC and ACCT on WIA reauthorization.

The WIA priorities and background information can be found here: http://www.acct.org/advocacy/priorities/

To view the hearing, click here:
http://help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=99586896-5056-9502-5d82-cabe2d595170

On the Jobs legislation front, House Congressional leaders are now working to bring the Senate Jobs legislation to the House floor for consideration.

In other news, the White House earlier this week announced President Barack Obama’s intention to nominate Dr. Eduardo M. Ochoa as Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education, Department of Education. Dr. Ochoa is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Sonoma State University. He is responsible for the University’s academic programs, strategic planning, and overall diversity initiative.
Read more!

Senate Invokes Cloture on Jobs Legislation

On Monday, the Senate invoked cloture (end debate or limit time for bill consideration) by a 62-30 vote on the Senate Jobs legislation introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). The Senate Jobs legislation would provide $15 billion in tax cuts, with the bulk of the funding intended to help employers hire new employees. The Senate is now expected to consider and pass its bill sometime this week. The legislation includes:

1. Payroll Tax Exemption: offers an exemption from social security payroll taxes for every worker hired in 2010 who 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. ($13 billion)
2. Section 179 Expensing: helps small businesses grow by allowing them to write off more of their expenditures.
3. Highway Trust Fund Extension: extends existing highway programs, which provides states and localities with the certainty they need to make decisions on projects.
4. Expansion of Build America Bonds: allows state and local governments to borrow at lower costs to finance more infrastructure projects and put people to work. ($2 billion)
   

The Senate bill differs greatly from the House Jobs bill (see below) and it is unclear how they will proceed to conference a final bill. Majority Leader Reid did announce that he would introduce bills to cover a wide range of provisions that were included in the House bill.

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. Read more!

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. Read more!