May 28 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. House approved legislation to extend unemployment insurance, restore some tax breaks and raise taxes on managers of buyout funds and other investment partnerships.
Lawmakers voted 215-204, largely along party lines, for the legislation costing about $112 billion. The Senate plans to consider the plan during the week of June 7 after lawmakers’ Memorial Day recess.
“It’s a good bill for jobs, it’s a good bill for closing tax loopholes, it’s a good bill for dissuading people from taking jobs overseas,†Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said on the House floor before the vote.
The plan would continue funding for extended unemployment benefits through Nov. 30 and renew a variety of tax cuts for businesses and individuals. The House also voted 245-171 to give doctors a 19-month reprieve from scheduled cuts in their reimbursements from the Medicare program.
Before the Senate acts next month, some jobless benefits will begin to expire May 31, at a time when the national unemployment rate remains near 10 percent. A record 45.9 percent of the jobless have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. When the payments lapsed earlier this year during a dispute over their extension, lawmakers made new benefits retroactive.
The legislation drops funds for extended health insurance subsidies for jobless workers while retaining dozens of tax breaks for businesses.
