Jobs Bill Comparison

What exactly is in the Senate jobs bill and how does it compare to a jobs bill already approved by the House?  Well, there is a lot of difference in terms of the details, as the Senate plan is worth $15 billion, while the House plan is over $150 billion.

The Senate bill has four main components that we have discussed before, but I will list them again here:

* A new tax credit for hiring workers
* Extra money for highway projects
* Small Business tax breaks
* Build America Bonds

The House bill is much broader and is more to the liking of many Democrats, who argue there is a need for another economic stimulus type of package.  Among the items in the House bill:

* $27.5 billion for roads and bridges
* $8.4 billion for public transit
* $800 million for Amtrak
* $500 million for airport improvement projects
* $100 million for maritime interests
* $2.1 billion in Clean Water funding
* $715 million for Army Corps of Engineers projects
* $2 billion in Energy Innovation Loans
* $4.1 billion in School Renovation Grants
* $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund
* $1 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund
* $23 billion for an Education Jobs Fund for states
* $1.18 billion for law enforcement jobs
* $500 million for firefighters
* $200 million for AmeriCorps
* $500 million for Summer Youth Employment programs
* $300 million for the College Work Study program
* $270 million for Parks and Forestry Workers
* $750 million for competitive grants in "High Growth Fields"

The bill also has a series of items that may get acted on by the Senate as well, but are not in the slimmed down version of the jobs bill:

* $41 billion to extend expanded jobless benefits for six months
* $12.3 billion to extend COBRA health insurance aid for jobless workers
* $354 million in Small Business Loans
* $2.3 billion in expanded Child Tax Credits
* $305 million to keep certain people eligible for federal aid programs
* $23.5 billion to extend a higher federal match for some Medicaid payments to doctors

Republicans will be hard pressed to oppose expanded jobless benefits and the extended COBRA aid.  Those were both in the original Senate jobs bill, which at $85 billion was still only about half the size of the House jobs bill.