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The House approved an amended version of the Senate-passed Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Bill (HR 2847) on March 4. Lawmakers approved the measure by a vote of 217-to-201, after making minor changes to the legislation. The bill's chief difference with its Senate counterpart is that it would raise $9.9 billion by delaying until 2020 the implementation of worldwide allocation of interest rules. The Senate passed its version of the jobs bill on February 24 (TAXDAY, 2010/02/25, C.1) and is expected to take action on the latest House version during the week of March 8.

The House bill also would make technical corrections to provisions granting $13 billion in tax incentives for hiring new employees and would expand the value of state and local tax credit bond programs. According to the House Ways and Means Committee, the bill now meets House and statutory pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budget rules, ensures that small businesses can take advantage of the payroll tax exemption and continues requirements ensuring that a portion of the highway and transit funding goes to minority-owned businesses. New Ways and Means Chairman Sander M. Levin, D-Mich., praised the bill for cracking down on offshore tax abuse in order to pay for the cost of the hiring incentives.

In remarks on the House floor, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the measure would begin creating jobs just as soon as the Senate passes it and the president signs it. She said that the payroll tax holiday in the bill would create 300,000 jobs and that the bill would trigger billions of dollars in investments in U.S. infrastructure projects, thereby creating even more jobs.

The bill did trigger bipartisan criticism, however. Ways and Means member Kevin Brady, R-Tex., said the fact that Congress is passing a second jobs bill just a year after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) means that Democrats have been ineffective in creating jobs. "If the barely one-year-old $860-billion stimulus bill created or saved the millions of jobs they claim, why was another stimulus cobbled together in secret and thrown out on the House floor for a vote today?" said Brady, ranking member on the Joint Economic Committee. Ways and Means member Lloyd Doggett, D-Tex., also faulted the bill for being ineffective for businesses. He said the jobs tax credit will not help employers who fought to hang onto employees, rather than fire them, but it will give their competitors a benefit.

Levin was named chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on March 4, replacing Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., who stepped down from the post, pending a House ethics investigation. Rep. Fortney Pete Stark, D-Calif., a more senior Democrat on the panel, decided to forgo the chairmanship of the full committee and will remain as chairman of the Health Subcommittee.

By Stephen K. Cooper, CCH News Staff

House Press Release: House Approves the HIRE Act

Ways and Means Summary of HR 2847 Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act

Amendment to the Senate Amendment to the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to HR 2847

Senate Amendment to House Amendment to Senate Amendment to HR 2847

JCT Estimated Revenue Effects of the Revenue Provisions Contained in an Amendment to the Senate Amendment to the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to HR 2847, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act

CBO Estimate of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Effects for an Amendment to the Senate Amendment to the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to HR 2847