Do You Know How Your Senator Voted on Putting Teachers Back to Work - and How Many Jobs Are at Stake in Your State?

Posted on October 21, 2011 |

Posted by:

Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security

Last night, a Republican-led filibuster blocked debate on the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act. The Act would have provided funding to keep about 400,000 teachers on the job nationwide — a jobs measure that's especially important to women since the local education workforce is about three-quarters female. The bill, which also would have kept thousands of police and firefighters on the job, was fully paid for by a tax of one-half of one percent on income above $1 million.

But every Republican Senator, joined by two Democrats — Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mark Pryor (D-AR) — and one Independent (Joseph Lieberman, I-CT) voted no. They wouldn't even allow debate to begin. So we'll have to guess whether it's because they don't care what's happening to teachers and students around the country — or care too much about making sure millionaires don’t have to pay a penny more in taxes.

But we thought you'd care about keeping teachers in the classroom — keeping women earning, and children learning. (You might even want to see millionaires start to pay their fair share of taxes.) So we've made up a chart below that shows how your Senator voted on the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act, and how many teaching jobs are at stake for your state, based on White House estimates.

Vote on Motion to Proceed on the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act (S. 1723)
State	Teaching Jobs At Stake	Senator	Party	Vote
Alabama	7,000	Jeff Sessions	R	N
Alabama	7,000	Richard Shelby	R	N
Alaska	900	Mark Begich	D	Y
Alaska	900	Lisa Murkowski	R	N
Arizona	9,700	Jon Kyl	R	N
Arizona	9,700	John McCain	R	N
Arkansas	4,100	John Boozman	R	N
Arkansas	4,100	Mark Pryor	D	N
California	37,300	Barbara Boxer	D	Y
California	37,300	Dianne Feinstein	D	Y
Colorado	7,000	Michael Bennet	D	Y
Colorado	7,000	Mark Udall	D	Y
Connecticut	3,800	Richard Blumenthal	D	Y
Connecticut	3,800	Joseph Lieberman	I	N
Delaware	1,100	Thomas Carper	D	Y
Delaware	1,100	Christopher Coons	D	Y
Florida	25,900	Bill Nelson	D	Y
Florida	25,900	Marco Rubio	R	N
Georgia	12,800	Saxby Chambliss	R	N
Georgia	12,800	Johnny Isakson	R	N
Hawaii	1,500	Daniel Akaka	D	Y
Hawaii	1,500	Daniel Inouye	D	Y
Idaho	2,500	Mike Crapo	R	N
Idaho	2,500	James Risch	R	N
Illinois	14,500	Richard Durbin	D	Y
Illinois	14,500	Mark Kirk	R	N
Indiana	9,100	Daniel Coats	R	N
Indiana	9,100	Richard Lugar	R	N
Iowa	4,100	Chuck Grassley	R	N
Iowa	4,100	Tom Harkin	D	Y
Kansas	4,300	Jerry Moran	R	N
Kansas	4,300	Pat Roberts	R	N
Kentucky	6,100	Mitch McConnell	R	N
Kentucky	6,100	Rand Paul	R	N
Louisiana	6,300	Mary Landrieu	D	Y
Louisiana	6,300	David Vitter	R	N
Maine	1,800	Susan Collins	R	N
Maine	1,800	Olympia Snowe	R	N
Maryland	6,000	Benjamin Cardin	D	Y
Maryland	6,000	Barbara Mikulski	D	Y
Massachusetts	6,300	Scott Brown	R	N
Massachusetts	6,300	John Kerry	D	Y
Michigan	11,900	Carl Levin	D	Y
Michigan	11,900	Debbie Stabenow	D	Y
Minnesota	6,900	Al Franken	D	Y
Minnesota	6,900	Amy Klobuchar	D	Y
Mississippi	4,600	Thad Cochran	R	N
Mississippi	4,600	Roger Wicker	R	N
Missouri	9,100	Roy Blunt	R	N
Missouri	9,100	Claire McCaskill	D	Y
Montana	1,400	Max Baucus	D	Y
Montana	1,400	Jon Tester	D	Y
Nebraska	2,800	Mike Johanns	R	N
Nebraska	2,800	Ben Nelson	D	N
Nevada	3,600	Dean Heller	R	N
Nevada	3,600	Harry Reid	D	Y
New Hampshire	1,700	Kelly Ayotte	R	N
New Hampshire	1,700	Jeanne Shaheen	D	Y
New Jersey	9,300	Frank Lautenberg	D	Y
New Jersey	9,300	Robert Menendez	D	Y
New Mexico	3,100	Jeff Bingaman	D	Y
New Mexico	3,100	Tom Udall	D	Y
New York	18,000	Kirsten Gillibrand	D	Y
New York	18,000	Charles Schumer	D	Y
North Carolina	13,400	Richard Burr	R	N
North Carolina	13,400	Kay Hagan	D	Y
North Dakota	1,000	Kent Conrad	D	Y
North Dakota	1,000	John Hoeven	R	N
Ohio	14,200	Sherrod Brown	D	Y
Ohio	14,200	Rob Portman	R	N
Oklahoma	5,900	Tom Coburn	R	N
Oklahoma	5,900	James Inhofe	R	N
Oregon	4,600	Jeff Merkley	D	Y
Oregon	4,600	Ron Wyden	D	Y
Pennsylvania	14,400	Robert Casey, Jr.	D	Y
Pennsylvania	14,400	Patrick Toomey	R	N
Rhode Island	1,100	Jack Reed	D	Y
Rhode Island	1,100	Sheldon Whitehouse	D	Y
South Carolina	6,400	Jim DeMint	R	N
South Carolina	6,400	Lindsey Graham	R	N
South Dakota	1,600	Tim Johnson	D	Y
South Dakota	1,600	John Thune	R	N
Tennessee	9,400	Lamar Alexander	R	N
Tennessee	9,400	Bob Corker	R	N
Texas	39,500	John Cornyn	R	N
Texas	39,500	Kay Bailey Hutchison	R	N
Utah	5,100	Orrin Hatch	R	N
Utah	5,100	Mike Lee	R	N
Vermont	800	Patrick Leahy	D	Y
Vermont	800	Bernard Sanders	I	Y
Virginia	10,800	Mark Warner	D	Y
Virginia	10,800	Jim Webb	D	Y
Washington	8,500	Maria Cantwell	D	Y
Washington	8,500	Patty Murray	D	Y
West Virginia	2,600	Joe Manchin III	D	Y
West Virginia	2,600	John Rockefeller IV	D	Y
Wisconsin	7,400	Ron Johnson	R	N
Wisconsin	7,400	Herb Kohl	D	Y
Wyoming	700	John Barrasso	R	N
Wyoming	700	Michael Enzi	R	N
Source: White House Fact Sheets
Note: The bill would have also supported 500 teaching jobs in the District of Columbia.

Comments

Jobs bill for Teachers and First Responders

Submitted by Roger Allen Cagle on Wed, 2011-10-26 19:25

I am very disappointed in Senator Bob Corker D TN and Senator Lamar Alexander D TN who voted NO against the Jobs bill for teachers and first responders. 9400 teachers and first responders would have been put back to work in Tennessee helping the local, state, and national economy.

What is wrong with our Tennessee Senators???

Misleading

Submitted by Mother on Sat, 2011-10-22 04:43

I understand the issue-but the quote " a republican led " makes one think that made the difference.
As you can see-(or if it was pointed out), it would have passed if the Dems who voted against it didn't. Maybe if we focused on relaxing US business-the tax revenue would FLOW and we would have plenty. I am all for plenty of $ flowing to the need..but the flow is being stopped way before it gets to b voted on.. Just my opinion...

Jobs bill for teachers and first responders

Submitted by Jan Wheeler on Fri, 2011-10-21 18:44

I think that it's Completely Irresponsible for so many of our Senators to have voted to REJECT keeping teachers and first responders on the job!! And absolutely disgusting.