Congress this week concluded work on the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 (HR 4851), also referred to as the “extensions bill.” House passage came Thursday evening a few hours after the Senate passed an amended version of the bill, and the president signed it shortly after that.
In addition to extending expanded unemployment benefits through the end of May, the short-term legislation would extend COBRA health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and higher payments for physicians who treat Medicare patients. It also would extend a national flood insurance program and the use of 2009 poverty guidelines for federal programs.
The short-term extension package is designed to buy time for House and Senate negotiators to reach a deal on the American Workers, State and Business Relief Act of 2010 (HR 4213), which extends the unemployment benefits through the end of the year and the temporary FMAP increase originally passed as part of the Recovery Act through June 2011. ANCOR members are encouraged to call their members of Congress and encourage them to swiftly resolve the differences in HR 4213.
Read more!
Showing posts with label Federal Legislation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Federal Legislation. Show all posts
Friday, April 16, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Senate Passes $15 Billion Jobs Bill--First in Series of Job Creation Agenda
After waiving a Republican point of order, the Senate Wednesday morning passed a $15 billion jobs bill, by a vote of 70-28. The bill which includes payroll tax breaks, bond-financing for state and local infrastructure projects, a small-business expensing provision, and an extension of federal highway programs, will be sent to the House for a vote. The House passed a more comprehensive $154 billion jobs bill in December which included a six-month extension of FMAP.
Before leaving for their week-long President's Day recess, Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) scrapped a larger, bipartisan jobs bill draft by Senate Finance Chair Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Grassley (R-IA) in favor of a series of smaller jobs bills. Majority Leader Reid is working on several other jobs bills as part of a jobs creation agenda. A six-month extension of FMAP, as well as extensions of unemployment insurance and COBRA, are being considered for the next jobs bill. However, timing has not been set for the series of bills or content. Reid must first determine what items must be costed out under new "pay-go rules" and what combination in each package will bring sufficient support to muster a 60-vote cloture rule to end any filibuster efforts, before proceeding.
Read more!
Before leaving for their week-long President's Day recess, Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) scrapped a larger, bipartisan jobs bill draft by Senate Finance Chair Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Grassley (R-IA) in favor of a series of smaller jobs bills. Majority Leader Reid is working on several other jobs bills as part of a jobs creation agenda. A six-month extension of FMAP, as well as extensions of unemployment insurance and COBRA, are being considered for the next jobs bill. However, timing has not been set for the series of bills or content. Reid must first determine what items must be costed out under new "pay-go rules" and what combination in each package will bring sufficient support to muster a 60-vote cloture rule to end any filibuster efforts, before proceeding.
Read more!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Senate To Move on First Jobs Bill Week of February 8th
Provisions of a Senate $80 billion jobs bill expected in Thursday's Democratic press conference with Majority Leader Reid (D-NV), Durbin (D-IL) and Baucus (D-MT) were not forthcoming as Senators said details for a bill would be unveiled Friday or Monday. Reid expects to vote on the first jobs creation bill by end of next week before the Congressional week-long Presidents' Day recess that begins February 12th.
Senate leaders continued to negotiate a bipartisan package of tax incentives and safety-net spending for laid-off workers Thursday, but the must-pass nature of the bill meant it was beginning to attract unrelated legislative freight. The House-passed jobs bill costs $154 billion heavily focused on infrastructure and FMAP extension. However, the Senate jobs bill is to focus on tax credits and tax payroll relief for small businesses, highway funding, and possibly extension of unemployment insurance and COBRA. At this point, it is not expected to include FMAP extension. See related brief on Reid and Rockefeller bill and push to get FMAP in this jobs bill. Read more!
Senate leaders continued to negotiate a bipartisan package of tax incentives and safety-net spending for laid-off workers Thursday, but the must-pass nature of the bill meant it was beginning to attract unrelated legislative freight. The House-passed jobs bill costs $154 billion heavily focused on infrastructure and FMAP extension. However, the Senate jobs bill is to focus on tax credits and tax payroll relief for small businesses, highway funding, and possibly extension of unemployment insurance and COBRA. At this point, it is not expected to include FMAP extension. See related brief on Reid and Rockefeller bill and push to get FMAP in this jobs bill. Read more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
