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Government
& Public Affairs Update
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Government &
Public Affairs Team
Reginald M. Turner
John
Van Fossen, Practice Group Leader
Lucius A. Vassar
Chris Wagner
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Reid Pushes
for Vote Despite Federal Government Shutdown
With nearly 30
inches of snow on the ground, the federal government closed since
Friday afternoon, and another storm expected to bring 8 to 16 inches
to the capital overnight, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is
pushing for a vote on the Senate jobs bill this weekend.
The bill has
the potential of becoming the first major bipartisan piece of
legislation passed since President Obama was sworn into office last
year. Although the GOP hasn't fully committed to the bill, individual
Republicans have been involved in its creation, particularly Senator
Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called the bill a
"work in progress" and that it was too early to tell if
Republicans would support the final bill.
Key provisions include:
- A payroll tax holiday for businesses
that hire people who have been unemployed for at least 60 days,
allowing companies to keep the 6.2 percent of wages that they
normally pay into the Social Security program. Money from the
general fund would be used to keep Social Security whole.
- Employers would also get a $1,000 tax
credit for each employee they keep for at least a year.
- Small businesses would also get
liberalized rules for writing off their investments.
- The highway trust fund would be
extended through the end of 2010, paid for with interest
generated by the fund itself.
- Tax provisions that expired at the end
of 2009 would be extended through 2010. Those include the
research and development tax credit, tax incentives for the
production of biodiesel and the ability for individuals to
deduct state sales taxes.
- The Build America Bonds stimulus
program, which allows state and local governments to issue
taxable debt with a federal subsidy, would be extended
indefinitely.
- Unemployment insurance and federal
health insurance subsidies for laid-off workers would be
extended through the end of May.
The news that
a vote may be scheduled for the weekend signals a potential
breakthrough given Obama's comments recently about his willingness to
take incremental steps on the jobs bill.
Democrats are hopeful that passing a job bill will improve their
chances of maintaining their margins of control in the House and
Senate in the upcoming elections. However, Republican support
might not be the immediate roadblock to passage of a jobs bill.
The House has postponed work until after it returns from the
Presidents Day recess on February 22, while the Senate may be forced
to close for the remainder of this week due to poor weather
conditions resulting from record amounts of snowfall over the past
week.
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If you have
any questions concerning these issues, please contact Chris Wagner at
202.772.0924 or cwagner@clarkhill.com.
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To find out
more about Clark Hill and our Government & Public Affairs
Practice Group, visit clarkhill.com
or call 800.949.3124
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