In case you missed it…

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on several aspects of the jobs bill under consideration in the Senate.

Chad Stone, chief economist, highlighted the uncertainty that jobless workers face due to Congress’s failure to extend jobless benefits.  Today, Stone listed the top ten reasons why Congress needs to extend jobless benefits and provide more state fiscal assistance.

Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy, praised the House-passed jobs bill for partially closing a tax loophole for shareholder-employees of S corporations and explained why the Senate would be irresponsible to weaken the bill’s loophole-closing measures.

Jim Horney, director of federal fiscal policy, explained that an amendment from Senator Thune to the jobs bill, which the Senate eventually rejected, would have effectively shut down much of the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year.  When Thune responded incorrectly to Horney’s assessment, we set the record straight.

Lastly, Nick Johnson, director of state fiscal policy, told the story of the fiscal crises that states face through a series of charts, warning that states’ cuts to programs and services are costing jobs and slowing the recovery.

In other news, the Center released reports on the Thune amendment to the jobs bill (here and here), a possible improvement to the school lunch program, and other benefits of the TANF Emergency Fund.