Tax credits, Medicare fix in Senate jobs bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Highway funding and tax breaks for hiring workers figure prominently in a jobs-creation bill that Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate hope will attract rare joint support in an election year, lawmakers said on Tuesday.
The bill, likely to be less costly and more bipartisan than the one passed by the House of Representatives, also extends unemployment benefits and postpones a scheduled 20 percent cut in payments to doctors under the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly.
The Senate legislation, which has yet to be formally introduced, faces more than the usual procedural hurdles as a record snowstorm has paralyzed Washington and made it difficult for many lawmakers to get to work.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid initially hoped to finish the bill this week but his optimism on the timing waned over the day as another major snowstorm hit the Washington area and forced the Senate to cancel Wednesday's session.
Reid, in remarks on the Senate floor, said he doubted senators would be able to hold any votes this week because of the weather. The Senate is in recess next week, which means no votes then either, but Reid expressed optimism.
"Despite the storm, we're going to make progress on the jobs bill," he said.
Reid said he had "a good conversation" on Tuesday with Senator Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, "and we're going to continue to work with everyone on an agreement to move forward with this matter."
Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl praised what appeared to be a rare outburst of congressional bipartisanship but said he did not expect a vote this week on the jobs legislation.
"Something might be written this week to go out as a draft to everybody. But it will not be acted on this week. No way," Kyl told reporters, explaining that Republicans would need time to study the provisions.
The Senate's top Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said the jobs legislation would carry a price tag of roughly $80 billion. That would be about half the size of the $155 billion package that Democrats in the House passed in December with no Republican support.