–Expects House to Take Up Tax Cut Bill ‘Quickly’
–Senate Sets Votes on Three Amendments Before Final Passage

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday
morning the Senate is poised to pass a sweeping tax cut and spending
bill within “the next couple of hours.”

In remarks on the Senate floor, Reid said the Senate will hold one
more hour of debate Wednesday morning on the $858 billion tax cut and
spending package that was negotiated by President Barack Obama and
congressional Republican leaders.

Reid said he expects the Senate to pass the bill and then the House
will take up the bill “quickly.”

The last hour of debate will be between 11:00 a.m. and noon. Reid
said the Senate will begin voting at noon and is likely to have
completed its votes by around 2:00 p.m.

Before moving to final passage, the Senate will vote on three
motions that are likely to fail: a motion by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn
to require that the unemployment benefits be offset with other spending
cuts; a motion by Republican Sen. Jim Demint that would permanently
extend the Bush era tax cuts and the underlying bill’s estate tax and
AMT provisions; and a motion by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders to only
extend middle class tax cuts.

After these three votes, the Senate will move to final passage on
the bill.

The Senate bill is based on the agreement President Obama reached
with Republican leaders last week. It extends all of the Bush era tax
cuts for two years and extends unemployment insurance benefits for 13
months. It includes the extension of a host of expiring or expired tax
credits, including business tax expensing provisions that are designed
to spur growth.

The agreement also provides for a two percentage point reduction in
the employee share of payroll taxes in 2011, and sets the estate tax at
35% above a $5 million per person threshold.

If the Senate passes the bill Wednesday, the measure will be sent
to the House.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday there is an
“urgency” in completing work on the tax legislation this week. Hoyer
said there are provisions that Democrats don’t like, but appeared to
signal that there will not be a vigorous effort to rewrite the bill.

Congress still must pass a measure to fund the government by the
end of the week. The current stop-gap spending bill, which is funding
the government, expires Saturday.

Senate Democrats have drafted a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill
that includes all 12 of the regular spending bills for FY11.

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday
Republicans object to this bill and want Congress to pass a bare bones
spending bill that funds the government until early next year, rather
than a year-long bill.

Such a vote, McConnell said, would “keep the lights on” until the
next Congress convenes in early January to take up the spending bill.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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