Harry Reid announces scaled-back $50 billion jobs bill

By Lisa Mascaro

Published Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010 | 10:53 a.m.

Updated Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010 | 1 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Facing a jobs bill bogged down with special interest requests, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid abruptly switched course this afternoon, announcing he would instead pursue a pared back, $50 billion effort as the first in a series of jobs initiatives this year.

The bill would focus on four main provisions: tax breaks to those who hire unemployed workers, small business tax credits for company expenses, a one-year extension of the highway trust fund and an extension of a municipal bond program first launched under the recovery act.

Reid explained the sudden shift as a way to more quickly pass a bill to help out-of-work Americans.

“The American people need a message -- the message that they need is that we’re doing something about jobs,” Reid said.

Citing press reports that criticized earlier drafts of the legislation as being tailor-made by lobbyists, Reid said the bill was becoming “so watered down with other things” that he decided to change course.

“We have a bill that will create jobs, according to the CBO, immediately,” Reid said, referring to the neutral arbiter, the Congressional Budget Office. He said extending the highway fund alone would save 1 million jobs. The other provisions would create new jobs.

Passing a jobs bill swiftly in the Senate would provide a crucial test of President Barack Obama’s overtures to Republicans, and whether Congress is making any headway toward bipartisanship. Democrats would need Republican support in the Senate to pass the bill.

Republicans were unable to immediately say if they could support the pared-back approach. They were expecting a much broader package that included the extension of key tax breaks that are set to expire.

The abrupt pivot from Democratic leadership came just hours after the top Democrat and Republican on the Finance Committee unveiled a draft package that was much larger in scope and claimed to offer a bipartisan approach.

The Senate had hoped to pass the bill this week, but the blizzard that shut down Washington for the past several days dashed those plans. Senators are home next week for the Presidents Day recess, but the jobs bill being introduced today would be a top order of business when they return the week of Feb. 22.

Reid said other provisions, which presumably would include a previously discussed extension of unemployment and health insurance and other tax cuts, would come next, as part of an ongoing “jobs agenda.”

When asked why the chamber is not canceling its recess to finish the bill, Reid said senators have schedules and appointments at home to keep.

“It’s not that their headed to the beach and to sip tea and smoke cigars,” Reid said.

The House has already passed a more sweeping $150 billion jobs bill. Democratic Reps. Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus voted for that bill. Republican Rep. Dean Heller voted against. The two bills would ultimately need to be reconciled.