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Jobs Bill Officially Stalls Out in the Senate

Yesterday evening, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) withdrew his filing for cloture on the jobs bill, also known as the tax extenders bill or H.R. 4213, currently in

Jul 31, 20203K Shares219.5K Views
Yesterday evening, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) withdrew his filing for cloture on the jobs bill, also known as the tax extenders bill or H.R. 4213, currently in the Senate. Instead, today, the Senate votedon whether to waive paygo rules on the $140 billion provision that would keep up Medicare payments to doctors, provide states with money for Medicaid and extend unemployment insurance.
The measure lost, 45-52, with a 12 Senate Democrats voting in opposition. Essentially, the Senate said the $80 billion the bill would add to the deficit does not qualify as “emergency” spending and therefore is not exempt from paygo. Deficit concerns trumped concerns about the plight of the jobless. Already, 903,000 Americans have not received checks due to the expiry of the unemployment insurance exemption at the beginning of June.
So how do Democrats move forward? Likely by finding funding for some of the provisions, or continuing to argue they are emergency. It is not clear what will get cut and what will get paygo funding at this point.
Hajra Shannon

Hajra Shannon

Reviewer
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