With the votes of Snowe, Collins, and Ben Nelson, the Senate finally managed to get cloture on an education jobs and state Medicaid payments bill, clearing the way for final passage with a 61-38 vote. The aid won't actually be off to states yet as House will have to vote on it as well, but the major hurdle has been overcome to provide the critical assistance to states to prevent layoffs of hundreds of thousands of teachers and state workers. Reid's office provided this statement about the bill prior to this morning's vote.
"The CBO has concluded that our amendment to save 140,000 teachers’ jobs and tens of thousands of first responders’ jobs does more than just keep these selfless Americans from being laid off: it also will reduce the budget deficit by $1.4 billion over the next decade. Our plan to keep teachers in the classroom, police officers on the beat and firefighters on call is not only fully paid-for, but it also saves taxpayers money.
"This amendment meets every test Republicans claim to be concerned about. They have no more excuses, and tomorrow, they will have a choice: lay off teachers weeks before the new school year starts and fire the first responders who keep us safe, or help these workers keep their jobs and help our economy recover."
Snowe and Collins were feeling the heat back home. That included this ad from AFSCME and Americans United for Change: