WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, released the following statement :
“Gridlock in the Congress has again halted efforts to put Pennsylvanians back to work. Tonight’s vote wasn’t even on passage of the jobs bill. It was on whether to begin debate.
“The opposition to even debating the jobs bill is disappointing, but not unexpected. Partisan gridlock has become the norm in Washington. That is why a month ago I called for the jobs bill to be broken up.
“The Senate should immediately begin a series of votes on measures to create jobs, starting with the tax cut to help businesses hire workers. This tax cut is similar to my Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit Act and is a concept that has broad support. CBO has looked at this kind of proposal in the past and said it is one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to increase employment and boost economic growth. And economist Alan Blinder, a former Vice Chairman of the Fed, has said that – if he could do just one thing to jumpstart the economy – he would enact a large-scale tax credit to incentivize new hiring.
“With over half a million Pennsylvanians and 14 million Americans out of work there is no time to waste. Congress needs to get moving now on some common-sense job creation measures that can gain support and put people back to work.”
To provide new incentives for small firms to hire, Senator Casey introduced the Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit Act. This bill would create a one-year quarterly tax credit equal to 20 percent of the total increase in employee wages. Firms can benefit from the credit by increasing their hiring, increasing the hours of employees, or increasing employee wages. Last week, Senator Casey chaired a roundtable on “Tax Incentives to Bolster Job Creation and Strengthen the Economy” where experts discussed the job creation tax credit and other measures to spur hiring and economic growth.
To encourage small and medium-sized businesses to invest in life sciences R&D, Senator Casey introduced the bipartisan Life Sciences Jobs and Investment Act that doubles the R&D tax credit on the first $150 million of R&D in life sciences.”
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