Senators Vote to Kill Jobs Bill – Even With Extra-High Unemployment in their States

Posted on October 12, 2011 |

Posted by:

Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security

Posted by:

Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Senior Policy Analyst

In poll after poll, the American people rank jobs as their biggest concern.

It’s easy to understand why. More than two years after the recession officially ended, unemployment is above 9 percent, record numbers of women live in poverty, and millions of families are struggling to make ends meet.

You’d think the U.S. Senate would be willing, at least, to begin debating a jobs package. But last night, 49 U.S. Senators, in a nearly party-line vote, voted to block debate on the American Jobs Act. Fifty Senators voted yes to allow debate (it would have been 51, except that Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV), the bill’s sponsor, had to change his vote from “Yes” to “No” to allow the bill to be reconsidered in the future). But 60 votes were needed to break the filibuster.

We think that unemployment is a national crisis – one all Senators should respond to. But it’s particularly striking that Senators from states with unemployment well above the national average voted to kill the jobs bill without even considering it. Nine Senators from states with unemployment rates above 10 percent voted “no”: Senators Dean Heller (R-NV), Jim DeMint (R-SC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Richard Burr (R-NC), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA).

The chart below shows how Senators voted and the unemployment rate in their states. In brief: all Republican Senators, except Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK, who did not vote, voted “No” on allowing debate on the jobs bill to proceed, as did two Democratic Senators, Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Jon Tester (D-MT). All other Democratic Senators voted “Yes” to allow consideration of the bill. The two Independent Senators, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), also voted “Yes.”

How did your Senator vote?

Vote on Motion to Proceed on the American Jobs Act (Senate Bill 1660)
State	Unemployment Rate, August 2011	Senator	Party	Vote
Alabama	9.9	Jeff Sessions	R	N
Alabama	9.9	Richard Shelby	R	N
Alaska	7.7	Mark Begich	D	Y
Alaska	7.7	Lisa Murkowski	R	N
Arizona	9.3	Jon Kyl	R	N
Arizona	9.3	John McCain	R	N
Arkansas	8.3	John Boozman	R	N
Arkansas	8.3	Mark Pryor	D	Y
California	12.1	Barbara Boxer	D	Y
California	12.1	Dianne Feinstein	D	Y
Colorado	8.5	Michael Bennet	D	Y
Colorado	8.5	Mark Udall	D	Y
Connecticut	9.0	Richard Blumenthal	D	Y
Connecticut	9.0	Joseph Lieberman	I	Y
Delaware	8.1	Thomas Carper	D	Y
Delaware	8.1	Christopher Coons	D	Y
Florida	10.7	Bill Nelson	D	Y
Florida	10.7	Marco Rubio	R	N
Georgia	10.2	Saxby Chambliss	R	N
Georgia	10.2	Johnny Isakson	R	N
Hawaii	6.2	Daniel Akaka	D	Y
Hawaii	6.2	Daniel Inouye	D	Y
Idaho	9.2	Mike Crapo	R	N
Idaho	9.2	James Risch	R	N
Illinois	9.9	Richard Durbin	D	Y
Illinois	9.9	Mark Kirk	R	N
Indiana	8.7	Daniel Coats	R	N
Indiana	8.7	Richard Lugar	R	N
Iowa	6.1	Chuck Grassley	R	N
Iowa	6.1	Tom Harkin	D	Y
Kansas	6.7	Jerry Moran	R	N
Kansas	6.7	Pat Roberts	R	N
Kentucky	9.5	Mitch McConnell	R	N
Kentucky	9.5	Rand Paul	R	N
Louisiana	7.2	Mary Landrieu	D	Y
Louisiana	7.2	David Vitter	R	N
Maine	7.6	Susan Collins	R	N
Maine	7.6	Olympia Snowe	R	N
Maryland	7.3	Benjamin Cardin	D	Y
Maryland	7.3	Barbara Mikulski	D	Y
Massachusetts	7.4	Scott Brown	R	N
Massachusetts	7.4	John Kerry	D	Y
Michigan	11.2	Carl Levin	D	Y
Michigan	11.2	Debbie Stabenow	D	Y
Minnesota	7.2	Al Franken	D	Y
Minnesota	7.2	Amy Klobuchar	D	Y
Mississippi	10.3	Thad Cochran	R	N
Mississippi	10.3	Roger Wicker	R	N
Missouri	8.8	Roy Blunt	R	N
Missouri	8.8	Claire McCaskill	D	Y
Montana	7.8	Max Baucus	D	Y
Montana	7.8	Jon Tester	D	N
Nebraska	4.2	Mike Johanns	R	N
Nebraska	4.2	Ben Nelson	D	N
Nevada	13.4	Dean Heller	R	N
Nevada	13.4	Harry Reid	D	N*
New Hampshire	5.3	Kelly Ayotte	R	N
New Hampshire	5.3	Jeanne Shaheen	D	Y
New Jersey	9.4	Frank Lautenberg	D	Y
New Jersey	9.4	Robert Menendez	D	Y
New Mexico	6.6	Jeff Bingaman	D	Y
New Mexico	6.6	Tom Udall	D	Y
New York	8.0	Kirsten Gillibrand	D	Y
New York	8.0	Charles Schumer	D	Y
North Carolina	10.4	Richard Burr	R	N
North Carolina	10.4	Kay Hagan	D	Y
North Dakota	3.5	Kent Conrad	D	Y
North Dakota	3.5	John Hoeven	R	N
Ohio	9.1	Sherrod Brown	D	Y
Ohio	9.1	Rob Portman	R	N
Oklahoma	5.6	Tom Coburn	R	Absent
Oklahoma	5.6	James Inhofe	R	N
Oregon	9.6	Jeff Merkley	D	Y
Oregon	9.6	Ron Wyden	D	Y
Pennsylvania	8.2	Robert Casey, Jr.	D	Y
Pennsylvania	8.2	Patrick Toomey	R	N
Rhode Island	10.6	Jack Reed	D	Y
Rhode Island	10.6	Sheldon Whitehouse	D	Y
South Carolina	11.1	Jim DeMint	R	N
South Carolina	11.1	Lindsey Graham	R	N
South Dakota	4.7	Tim Johnson	D	Y
South Dakota	4.7	John Thune	R	N
Tennessee	9.7	Lamar Alexander	R	N
Tennessee	9.7	Bob Corker	R	N
Texas	8.5	John Cornyn	R	N
Texas	8.5	Kay Bailey Hutchison	R	N
Utah	7.6	Orrin Hatch	R	N
Utah	7.6	Mike Lee	R	N
Vermont	5.9	Patrick Leahy	D	Y
Vermont	5.9	Bernard Sanders	I	Y
Virginia	6.3	Mark Warner	D	Y
Virginia	6.3	Jim Webb	D	Y
Washington	9.3	Maria Cantwell	D	Y
Washington	9.3	Patty Murray	D	Y
West Virginia	8.1	Joe Manchin III	D	Y
West Virginia	8.1	John Rockefeller IV	D	Y
Wisconsin	7.9	Ron Johnson	R	N
Wisconsin	7.9	Herb Kohl	D	Y
Wyoming	5.8	John Barrasso	R	N
Wyoming	5.8	Michael Enzi	R	N
*Senator Reid changed his vote from a yes to a no so he could move to reconsider the vote later.
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, "Unemployment Rates for States" available at http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.

Comments

Thank you to WA Senators

Submitted by Joslynne Davidson on Fri, 2011-10-14 16:28

Love Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell- They always think of the people of Washington when they cast their votes. Will send an email to thank them!

Colorado Senator Udall Voted Yes

Submitted by Kathleen Cole on Wed, 2011-10-12 19:13

I will send Senator Udall my personal thanks for his vote on the Jobs Bill. Otherwise I consider this result to be a public disgrace and outrage. Shame on the senators who voted no.