THE INFLUENCE GAME: Business Aided By Jobless Bill

JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Emergency help for the jobless will be a huge windfall for Realtors, homebuilders, mortgage bankers and others, and that's no accident.

Those industries have spent months and millions of dollars making the case for $20 billion in tax cuts for homebuyers and businesses to help create jobs and revive a sluggish housing market. Their lobbying campaign paid off Thursday when Congress voted to pass the tax breaks as part of a broader extension of unemployment benefits. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law Friday.

The legislation, which provides up to 20 weeks in additional pay to more than 1 million people who have lost or are in danger of losing jobless aid, passed by overwhelming bipartisan margins.

It also would extend until the spring a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers that had been slated to expire at the end of the month, add smaller credits for some who own a home, and make the money available to wealthier people. The popular tax break is estimated to cost $10.8 billion over the next decade, and businesses that stand to benefit have flooded Capitol Hill in recent weeks to push it through.