Jobless aid measure clears Senate hurdle

WASHINGTON — Legislation to give additional months of unemployment benefits to people who have been out of a job for more than half a year cleared a key hurdle Tuesday that guarantees it will soon pass the Senate.

The sweeping bill also would prevent doctors from absorbing a crippling cut in Medicare payments and extends health insurance subsidies for the unemployed through December. It would add $132 billion to the budget deficit over the next year and a half. Eight Republicans voted with Democrats to defeat a GOP filibuster of the measure, setting up a final vote on Wednesday.

The measure illustrates the great extent to which direct help for the jobless and the poor makes up a large portion of Democrats’ election-year agenda on jobs — and that it threatens to squeeze out other items on that agenda amid concerns about a budget deficit projected at a record $1.6 trillion this year.

Democrats also hope this week to separately finish work on a far smaller job-creation measure blending additional highway spending with new tax breaks for companies that hire the unemployed. The Senate could clear the measure for President Barack Obama’s signature by Friday.

— Associated Press