WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. House Republican leaders refused to vote on a bipartisan proposal to extend a payroll tax cut and maintain unemployment insurance benefits for two months, instead using procedural maneuvers to try to set up a conference committee.

If the payroll tax cut is not extended, the average Rhode Island worker will see their take home paychecks reduced by about $1,000 over the course of 2012.  And ending federal jobless benefits for Rhode Island would sap an estimated $188 million out of the state’s economy. 

As Politico today reported: “First, John Boehner wanted the Senate to pass a payroll tax cut bill.  Then, he wanted to make a show of killing it.  Now, he won’t hold a House vote on it at all.”

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today issued the following statement:

“Congress can’t do anything without bipartisan cooperation.  While the House drew up a partisan wish list with gifts for big oil and jammed it through their chamber, the Senate worked together and passed a compromise with 89 votes. 

“Now, House Republicans refuse to compromise and their political jockeying threatens the middle-class.  They should actually have a straight up or down vote on this tax cut, approve it, and move forward with the business of the country. 

“Reducing payroll taxes right now is something all Americans and 89 U.S. Senators can agree on.  It is time House Republicans put the American people first and pass this middle-class tax cut.”