Congress Extends Payroll Tax Holiday, Sends Bill to President (ABC News)

February 17, 2012

By John Parkinson & Sunlen Miller

After months of negotiations, Congress finally approved a comprehensive package to extend the Social Security payroll tax credit, unemployment insurance and the Doc Fix for Medicare doctors through the end of the year, delivering the bipartisan agreement to the president for his signature Friday with less than two weeks to spare.

By a bipartisan vote of 293-132, the House voted first this morning to approve the conference report. A short time later, the Senate voted to approve the bill, 60-36.

In total, 91 House Republicans voted against the measure, as did 41 House Democrats. Fourteen Senate Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while five Senate Democrats, including Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Mark Warner of Virginia and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted in opposition.

The deal prevents a two-percent tax increase on middle-class families. Over the course of the year, an individual earning $50,000 would keep an extra $1,000 as a result of the extension. This aspect of the three-pronged deal was not offset with spending reductions, adding about $100 billion to the deficit.

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