The U.S. Senate rejected the jobs plan proposed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday night. This rejection comes only one day after a report was released warning lawmakers that failure to pass a job stimulus plan could result in 6 million Americans losing their unemployment benefits.
Senate Passes Jobs Bill by Too Few Votes
The American Jobs Act, which had been introduced by President Barack Obama in September, was a $447 billion plan that proposed a number of tax cuts and spending adjustments to reduce the national deficit, boost hiring and push the stalled economy into motion.
The bill also called to extend the deadline to file for federal unemployment benefits in 2012.
On Tuesday night, Senate members voted 50-49 in favor of the bill, but the measure failed to receive the 60 votes needed for advancement. Two Democrats joined the Republican minority to block Obama’s plan in a test vote, which shelved the measure in its current form.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) backed the failed vote, calling the measure a “lousy idea.” He went on to say, “If voting against another stimulus is the only way we can get Democrats in Washington to finally abandon this failed approach to job creation, then so be it.”
6 Million Jobless Workers Could Lose Unemployment Benefits
While the failed advancement of the measure was expected, it was still a devastating blow to the millions of Americans who may lose their unemployment benefits in 2012.
According to a report released by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) yesterday, failure to pass a jobs plan that extends benefits will result in 6 million losing federal unemployment benefits next year.
Federal unemployment benefits were introduced after the financial crisis to provide laid off workers with up to 53 weeks of emergency compensation and up to 20 weeks of extended benefits in addition to their standard 26 weeks of state benefits.
With 1.8 million workers expected to lose their federal as soon as January, the NELP says that failure to pass a bill could worsen matters for the workers in a major way.
