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Newsroom: Press Releases

Republicans Vote Down Another Jobs Bill

GOP Knocks Downs "Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act," Block Jobs Bill for Second Consective Week


Thursday, October 20, 2011

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) tonight blasted Senate Republicans for again voting down a middle-class jobs bill and blocking the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act.  This is the second jobs bill that Republicans voted down in the last two weeks.  Last week Republicans blocked President Obama’s American Jobs Act. 

“This is the second time in two weeks that Senate Republicans voted down a common-sense bill that would create jobs for middle-class Americans and help get our economy back on track,” Lautenberg stated.  “Instead of supporting jobs for teachers and first responders, Republicans continued their political mission to stop the President from having success improving our economy. Teacher and first responder jobs are especially important in New Jersey where so many of our cities are struggling with crime and so many of our schools are losing teachers.  It is time for Republicans to stop playing political games and work with President Obama and Democrats to prioritize job creation now.”

The Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act would provide approximately $831 million to New Jersey to keep teachers in the classroom, police on the beat, and firefighters on the scene.  The bill would hire or prevent the layoff of up to 400,000 educators, mainly teachers, nationwide, including nearly 10,000 in New Jersey.  It would also keep thousands more cops and firefighters on the job.

The legislation is fully paid for with a 0.5 percent surtax on income above $1 million of individuals or married couples filing jointly.

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