State aid, teacher funding cloture vote passes (Scott Brown voted against)

[ProSense]

Will The GOP Senators Whose States Face Thousands Of Teacher Layoffs Vote Against Teacher Funding?

More than 5,000 Layoffs
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) - voted no
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) - voted no

2,000-5,000 Layoffs
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) - voted no
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) - voted no
Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) - voted no
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) - voted no
Sens. Richard Lugar (R-IN) - voted no
Sens. Richard Shelby (R-AL) - voted no
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) - voted no
Sen. George LeMieux (R-FL) - voted no
Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) - voted no

Roll call

State aid, teacher funding cloture vote passes

by Joan McCarter

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:

more

[Fearless]

1. Well of course he voted against it! That's all he's done so far. He is a Rethug after all.

[flpoljunkie]

2. R's only care about deficits when it comes to keeping economy moving-never for tax cuts for top 2%!

They could not be more hypocritical. Where's the 'common sense' in this move? It only makes sense when you understand that Republicans are willing to screw this country and its economy so they can blame Democrats in their quest to take back control in Washington.

I do think the American people may be getting wise to their hypocrisy and mendaciousness. We cannot and must not go back!

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[RBInMaine]

3. Massachusetts needs to SLAM Brown with this and his other votes BIGTIME.

[RBInMaine]

4. If Snowe and Collins had voted no, the RePUKES would have been TOAST in Maine.

[ProSense]

5. Kerry: Senate Prevents Lay-Offs of Teachers, First Responders, Strengthens Medicaid

Kerry: Senate Prevents Lay-Offs of Teachers, First Responders, Strengthens Medicaid

Amendment Provides MA with over $650 Million in Desperately Needed Aid

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) today voted for legislation that will provide emergency, temporary funding to help Massachusetts’ schools avoid massive lay-offs weeks before the school year begins. The legislation will also extend federal Medicaid funding, preventing state budget cuts during the recession. The bill passed by a vote of 61 to 38 with the support of two Republicans – Senators Susan Collins (Maine) and Olympia Snowe (Maine).

The Federal Medical Assistant Percentages (FMAP) and teacher funding amendment will provide Massachusetts with about $450 million in federal Medicaid funding and $205 million in desperately needed educational funding.

“Governor Patrick, Mayors, teachers, parents, and first responders are breathing a sigh of relief now that the Senate has finally thrown them a lifeline,” Senator Kerry said. “States everywhere are hurting. They didn’t create the Wall Street meltdown or the housing crash, but they’ve been forced to cut essential services because of it. Now we’ve given them some relief. This vote will save more than 2,400 jobs in Massachusetts schools alone, keep cops and firefighters on the job, strengthen Medicaid for our most vulnerable citizens, and prevent devastating budget cuts. It’s taken far too long to pass this legislation, but today we broke through the gridlock and finally voted to protect jobs, and make sure our kids start the school year right. Make no mistake, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has found this bill will cut the deficit by $1.4 billion over the next decade and it will keep teachers in the classroom, police officers walking the beat and firefighters on duty to respond to that alarm bell. Only in Washington could this be a close vote.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided a 6.2 percent increase in Medicaid (FMAP) as well as additional FMAP assistance for states with high unemployment. These increases in federal reimbursement come to an abrupt halt on December 31, 2010, which occurs in the middle of fiscal year 2011 for most states—including Massachusetts. Massachusetts and nearly 30 other states are facing drastic budget cuts in the event that the temporary FMAP funding provided through ARRA is not extended.

Sen. Kerry has spent the past eight months fighting for a six-month extension of the Recovery Act FMAP provisions. In January, he led an effort with 37 of his colleagues to include this extension in the health reform bill. In February, he joined with even more colleagues to get this extension included in forthcoming jobs creation legislation. In June he worked with the Massachusetts House delegation to express strong support for including the FMAP extension in a letter to Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid.

The six-month extension in the Senate Amendment 4575 to H.R. 1586 - Teacher Jobs and State Fiscal Relief will provide about $450 million to Massachusetts. The amendment will extend and phase out increases in FMAP for six months, through June 30, 2011. This will ensure that states continue to receive these increases throughout state fiscal year 2011.

The education component of the amendment will provide states with $10 billion in temporary funding to prevent massive teacher layoffs. Massachusetts will get $205 million - money that will go straight to hiring, saving, and training more educators. It is estimated that it will create or save about 2,456 education jobs in Massachusetts.

[Mass]

8. It is sad that this had to come to the expense of food stamps in the future.

Let's just say that the two ladies from Maine are nearly as bad as the rest of GOP. It is something that can be modified in the future, but it shows that these ladies are as clueless as the rest of the GOP.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_07/024976.php

[ProSense]

12. Yes,

Republicans suck. Think Progress

Now, the cuts made to the food stamp program in order to pay for the bill are unfortunate. And in the larger sense, there is simply no reason to be offsetting measures to boost the economy, spur job creation, or bolster the social safety net now, as they have little effect on the long-term structural deficit but can make a huge difference in combating the effects of the Great Recession. But the fact remains that 38 Republicans senators voted today to filibuster a jobs bill that also reduces the deficit (which was also a vote to preserve corporate tax loopholes).

[YvonneCa]

6. Do you have any info on Reid's amendment or...

...how this bill was changed from the one they tabled yesterday?

[Mass]

9. Here

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_07/024976.php

[YvonneCa]

14. Thanks, Mass. n/t

[Historic NY]

7. Do you think anyone will be happy here..for weeks its been Obama wants to kill teachers.

[vaberella]

11. Doubtful. n/t

[roody]

16. No, he just wants to bust our unions.

[ProSense]

17. No, he doesn't. n/t

[vaberella]

10. This stuff needs to be on the tv.

That's where it needs to go cause the clowns who voted no need to be voted out.

[ProSense]

13. Scott Brown needs to be made the poster child for Republican obstruction

As David Dayan pointed out, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) authored a fully paid for state aid bill that was “substantially similar to this,” yet he still voted no. At this point, everyone should stop taking at face value the notion that Republicans really want small spending measure to pass, but only if they’re “paid for.” This vote clearly puts the lie to that assertion.

link

The Bay State’s junior senator, Republican Scott Brown, voted against the bill, saying there were better options for paying for it. “We can pay for that by not increasing taxes in the middle of a two year recession,” said Brown, in an interview after the vote.

link

He did the same thing with unemployment:

<...>

Brown has come under increasing pressure from Massachusetts advocates, unions, and unemployed residents for continuing to block unemployment benefit extensions, even as he held up a financial reform overhaul because he objected in a $19 billion tax on large financial institutions. Youth advocates earlier this week protested at Brown’s office in Boston, asking the Massachusetts Republican to vote for funding for summer jobs.

"Unfortunately Senator Brown is using his clout as a key vote to deliver a $19 billion break to the financial elites on Wall Street who crumbled our economy," Robert Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, said today in a statement. "Real people are suffering and every week more will suffer without his vote on an unemployment extension. Wall Street is doing fine. He's chosen to help nameless, faceless businesses who are doing fine over real working class families who are truly suffering. It's unacceptable."

Earlier yesterday, Brown introduced legislation that would have used federal stimulus funding to pay for the unemployment assistance, as well as fund summer jobs and provide additional Medicaid funding.

“No one is disputing the value of these very important programs, especially in my home State of Massachusetts, but throughout the country as well,” Brown said yesterday on the Senate floor. “But we also have to make tough choices, and we have to live within our means.”

<...>

If they're so important, why keep voting against them?

[Dawson Leery]

15. But too many around here said

there was no difference between Brown and Coakley. :eyes:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

18. TV ad - the GOP hates teachers, education and your children

and the GOP hates the poor and only likes the rich.

Yet the areas where I live where there are poor people vote Republican. Strange.

[RBInMaine]

19. Are they voting on guns, God, and gays? Can't reason with those idiots.