Bill Extending Jobless Benefits, Homebuyer Tax Credit Nears Passage in Senate

Legislation to extend unemployment benefits and expand a popular tax credit for homebuyers overcame the last in a string of Senate procedural hurdles Wednesday, but it may have to wait one more day to cross the finish line.

Senators voted 97-1 to invoke cloture and limit debate on the bill. The Senate could finish action on the measure later Wednesday if Republicans who have been holding up action agree to yield back remaining debate time. Otherwise, the final passage vote would occur Thursday.

South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint was the lone senator to vote "no" Wednesday on the motion to cut off debate.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., assailed Republicans for using all available procedural tactics to slow passage of the bill, despite its broad bipartisan support.

But Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said that the GOP tactic stems from Reid's refusal to allow floor votes on a narrow list of unrelated amendments, including a proposal to sunset the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program created last year to bail out the financial sector.

The House passed its bare-bones extension of jobless benefits on Sept. 22. Since that time, senators from both parties have negotiated a broader benefits plan. They also have agreed to add important new provisions, including an expansion and extension of the homebuyer tax credit and provisions to allow money-losing businesses to use their current losses to offset profits over the past five years and receive a tax refund.

The unemployment extension would allow workers in all 50 states to draw 14 weeks of additional unemployment benefits. Those in states with jobless rates above 8.5 percent could collect an additional six weeks of benefits.

Once the Senate passes its version of the bill, the measure will go back to the House, which is expected to accept the changes and send the package to President Obama for his signature.