Senate near agreement on jobs bill

WASHINGTON - Senate leaders plan to pass a jobs bill next week as key Democrats and Republicans neared agreement yesterday on a proposal to give businesses a tax break for hiring unemployed workers.

Passage would mark a rare bipartisan achievement in a Congress that has been sharply divided along political lines.

The Senate will start work on the bill Monday, said Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). If the bill is passed by the end of next week, when the Senate takes a President's Day break, it would hand President Barack Obama a badly needed political victory.

"We want to work with the Republicans and it appears to me, on the jobs program, they want to work with us," Reid told reporters. "We do believe very emphatically that we will be having a bipartisan bill."

Discussions continued among Senate leaders from both parties yesterday and it was unclear whether final agreement on a bill would be reached before next week, especially with most senators heading to their home states ahead of a major snowstorm expected Friday in Washington. Several key Republicans, however, sounded hopeful about eventually striking a deal.

"We all know it's not going to be easy to put together a bill but I think we've got one that most people can support," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

Passage of a bill with Democratic and Republican support would contrast sharply with the way Congress has done business for the past year, a reflection of the Democrats' diminished power since Republican Scott Brown scored a stunning victory last month in a special Senate election in Massachusetts.

Democrats believe a jobs bill that includes tax breaks Republicans support is a good way to break the ice, while also reflecting Obama's renewed emphasis on job creation.

"We heard the message of Massachusetts," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). "They said focus immediately, and don't take your focus off, jobs, the economy, helping the middle class."