On December 16, the House passed, 217-212, the Jobs for Main Street Act (H.R. 2847). The Senate is expected to consider the bill next year.
According to the House Appropriations Committee summary, the bill would provide emergency funding for programs affecting low-income families. Specifically, H.R. 2847 would provide $2.3 billion to expand eligibility for the refundable portion of the child tax credit. The legislation also would require that the forthcoming 2010 federal poverty line (FPL) issued by the Department of Health and Human Services “shall be not lower than the poverty line…issued on January 23, 2009,” thus establishing the current FPL as a floor for next year. The provision would help prevent a reduction in eligibility for several means-tested federal programs. The provision would not apply to the 2011 FPL. A related provision is contained in the FY2010 Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 3326), which Congress passed this week (see The Source, 12/18/09).
The bill would use $48.3 billion of the funds recovered from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, to create jobs in the infrastructure and public service industries. Among other provisions, the measure would provide $4.1 billion for school renovation grants to help state, local, and tribal governments finance school construction, rehabilitation, and repair projects and $750 million in competitive grants to support job training in “high growth fields,” such as health care and “green” industries.
