This should be interesting….

Scott Brown joins Dems and votes to end debate on jobs bill

Newly-seated Republican Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.) on Monday joined Democrats in voting to end debate on their $15 billion jobs bill.

Brown crossed the aisle after Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) nixed an $85 billion, bipartisan plan in favor of a more narrowly-focused bill.

“I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside, and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families,” Brown said in a statement. “This Senate jobs bill is not perfect. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I voted for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work.”

Democrats needed to poach Brown and and least one other Republican to reach the 60 votes necessary to votes. Centrist Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) also voted for cloture on the proposal.

Reitiring GOP Sen. George Voinovich (Ohio) also voted for cloture.

Brown was elected to the Senate with the backing of conservatives largely because of his pledge to serve as the 41st vote to uphold a filibuster of the Democrats health reform bill.

But Brown has expressed willingness to work with Democrats on other issues.

For those that wish to watch the proceedings on C-Span2, go here. I am looking for the bill number and text right now.

H.R. 2847 – Hiring Incentives To Restore Employment Act,  (not to be confused with the original H.R. 2847 – Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010.  Don’t you just love how they slip language in and take other language out because the original was already on the schedule?

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director

U.S. Congress
Washington, DC 20515

February 18, 2010

Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Mr. Leader:
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have prepared the enclosed table showing the estimated effects on revenues and direct spending for the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, as introduced in the Senate on February 11, 2010. The legislation has been introduced as Senate
Amendment 3310, in the nature of a substitute for H.R. 2847.
The legislation contains several tax provisions, including temporarily exempting from payroll taxes paid by employers the wages of certain individuals hired in 2010, providing an additional business tax credit for firms that retain such individuals for at least one year of employment, increasing allowable expensing in 2010 for certain depreciable business assets, amending the treatment of interest paid in connection with issuances of certain tax credit bonds, and modifying rules applicable to foreign accounts and the allocation of interest expenses on the part of corporations with worldwide activities. In addition, the legislation would extend through December 31, 2010, the authorization for surface transportation programs and would increase the budgetary resources for those programs by $20.8 billion in fiscal year 2010 and $12.2 billion in fiscal year 2011, relative to the amounts assumed in CBO’s baseline. Finally, the bill would provide for the transfer of $19.5 billion from the general fund of the Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund. Spending from the trust fund, however, is generally controlled by appropriation actions; as a result, the transfer may facilitate future spending but would not, by itself, increase such expenditures.

Read the rest at the link above.