Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will tee up a Friday test vote on a piece of President Obama’s jobs bill that would provide states money to retain or rehire teachers and emergency first responders.
“We are going to make sure there is a vote on our bill this week,” Reid told a crowd of fire fighters and teachers at a rally on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
The $35 billion legislation would be paid for with a 0.5 percent surtax on income over $1 million a year — a tiny new marginal bump that Republicans unanimously oppose. Some analyses suggest the legislation would save or create 400,000 jobs.
“The Republicans who work in the Senate suit up every day and come down and play their game in the Senate by following the lead of their leader — and that is, whatever they do, to make sure they do everything they can to make Barack Obama [lose],” Reid said.
He’ll face some resistance from his own caucus as well. Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) bucked Reid last week and opposed debate on Obama’s entire jobs bill and have signaled they’ll do the same this time around. They may be joined by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) who took to Twitter during Reid’s speech to oppose the legislation.
“Spending on new programs will add to the amount of money the Special Cmte. on debt cuts has to find,” Lieberman tweeted. They already have a very hard job.”
There’s a procedural hurdle in Reid’s way, too, but it’s a fairly small one. The Senate is currently debating a bundle of appropriations bills, which Reid hopes to wrap up before voting to debate the jobs measure. On Wednesday, he’ll set up two votes — one to end debate on the appropriations bill, one to begin debate on the jobs bill. Republicans are expected to block debate on the jobs bill, but if they first filibuster the approps legislation, Reid will have to call it back up right afterward.
And remember, this is a test vote about whether to debate the jobs bill — not a vote to end debate, or to pass the legislation itself.
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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