US House passes jobs bill

Washington

Local governments would receive billions of dollars for construction projects and welfare programs in the latest in a series of election-year jobs bills Democrats are pushing in Congress.

The House passed a bill yesterday that combines $13.2 billion in interest subsidies for local construction bonds with $3.6 billion in tax cuts for small businesses and $2.5 billion in aid to states to pay for expanded welfare programs through September 2011.

The House passed the bill on a vote of 246 to 178, with nearly all Republicans opposed. The measure now goes to the Senate.

The Democrats aim to pass a series of modest measures to address unemployment as congressional elections approach in November.