On February 22, the Senate invoked cloture and overcame a Republican filibuster of a $15 billion jobs bill (HR 2847) that includes a tax credit that would benefit nonprofit employers and could create 8,000 to 18,000 new nonprofit jobs. The bill does not include a hoped-for extension of Medicaid assistance to the states through the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP).
Most Senate Republicans supported a filibuster after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decided to remove several provisions that had been negotiated between Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA). However, five Republican senators broke ranks to override the filibuster on a 62-30 vote. They were Sens. Christopher Bond (R-MO), Scott Brown (R-MA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and George Voinovich (R-OH). Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) was the only Democrat to vote against it.
The House passed a different version of the same bill in December. After the Senate passes this bill, differences between the two must be resolved and a final version must be passed in both chambers before it can go to the president for his signature.
February 24 Update: The Senate today passed the bill by a vote of 70-28. The bill now goes to House-Senate conference.
March 4 Update: The House passed the bill 217-201. The bill includes a small change to comply with pay-as-you-go rules, so it must now go back to the Senate again before it can go to the president.