Congress Approves Payroll Tax Holiday Extension
NEW YORK (
) -- Both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly passed the payroll tax holiday Friday that President Obama estimates saves Americans some $40 on every paycheck.
The House approved the measure 293-to-132 and kicked the legislation to the Senate, where it received a 60-to-36 majority. The final step will be for Obama to sign the bill into law, which is expected to succeed.
|
"There are a number of positive aspects to this agreement, including preventing a tax increase on hardworking Americans and the spectrum initiative," John Boehner, House speaker, said in a statement. "The only reason the provisions at the core of this measure are even necessary is because the president's economic policies have failed."
Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid agreed in December to temporarily extend the payroll tax cut for two months, but it came at the political cost of an internally bitter battle among House Republicans who rejected an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill passed by the Senate.
The extension of the measure is good through the end of 2012.
--Written by Joe Deaux in New York.
>Contact by
.
>Follow Joe Deaux on
. Subscribe on
.
