Extending benefits for job-seekers, home-buyers

The Senate is likely to vote next week on extending to big programs

Sometimes, the surest way for a bill to become a law is to make it an amendment. For months now, a handful of folks in Congress have been talking about the need to extend the tax credit the government is now offering to first time homebuyers. It expires at the end of November, and everyone seems to agree that the extra $8,000 sparked a lot of home sales at a time when the housing market was weak.

But advocates of extending the program were having trouble getting their proposal on the schedule for a Senate vote. So instead, they offered it as an amendment to a bill that's on the move, HR 3548 , which would extend unemployment benefits for people who have been out of work for a long time.

The homebuying program would grow, under the plan that got support on Thursday. The $8,000 credit would extend through contracts that are signed by April 30, 2010. The income level to qualify for the credit would jump to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for couples.

The package is expected to some up for a vote in the Senate next week, according to CQ Today.

Scott Montgomery, Congress.org

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