Democrats Scramble For Votes On CT Bill Extending Unemployment

Senate Democrats are scrambling to find enough votes for a bill that aims to help Connecticut residents cope with the tough economy. But as WNPR Washington Desk reporter Sara Sciammacco reports, party leaders from both sides have to win over Independent Senator Joe Lieberman.

The bill includes an extension of federal unemployment benefits to help the jobless in Connecticut and in the nation’s other states. However, the legislation which is part of a jobs and tax extenders package has stalled in the Senate. Republicans and even some Democrats are objecting because of its overall cost. So what would it take to get Senator Lieberman’s vote?

“Well I’m not drawing any hard line except the less deficit there is in it the more likely I’ll be to support it.”

Last week, Lieberman voted against a procedural move known as cloture that would have ended debate and brought the bill to the floor for a vote. Democratic leaders are now working on tweaking and possibly scaling down the bill to attract more support.

For WNPR in Washington, I'm Sara Sciammacco, Capitol News Connection.