Tagged: payroll tax cut extension

Illinois' Republican congressmen are largely defending their party's decision not to support an extension of the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits.

They say the U.S. Senate bill they rejected called for only a two-month extension, and they think a longer-term solution would be better.

U.S. Rep. John Shimkus tells the (Springfield) State Journal-Register that a one-year extension would get the issue "out of political debate."

Reps. Bobby Schilling and Aaron Schock agreed. Schilling called the Senate's plan "unworkable."

Good morning! Here are some of today's starting headlines:

Slay authorizes $64 million in bonds for St. Louis parks

Funding for St. Louis City parks will no longer be siphoned into other capital improvement projects, following a bill signing by Mayor Francis Slay Monday night.

Two U.S. senators are proposing legislation to cut payroll taxes, boost transportation funding and restrict regulation.

Missouri Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill and Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, on Tuesday announced their proposed legislation.

The federal lawmakers say the legislation will boost jobs. They also called it an example of what bipartisanship can produce.