Despite a campaign-style push by President Barack Obama, the U.S. Senate last week scuttled pared-back jobs legislation aimed at helping state and local governments avoid teacher layoffs.
The $35 billion bill failed on a 50-50 test vote that fell well short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. Three Democrats voted against the legislation, and two others said they couldn’t support the president’s underlying plan.
The bill, which included $30 billion for hiring or retaining teachers and other school staff, had been broken off from the president’s $447 billion jobs measure that failed earlier in the month.
