The stock market rose today as the U.S. Senate approved a $15 billion jobs bill aimed at boosting job growth by giving tax breaks to businesses that hire the unemployed.
The bill was approved by a bipartisan 70-28 vote and now goes back to the House, which passed a more ambitious version in December.
The legislation would give companies that hire unemployed Americans an exemption from paying payroll taxes on those workers through the end of this year. The plan also would provide a $1,000 tax credit to employers who keep new workers on the payroll for at least for 52 weeks.
In addition, the jobs bill would extend highway and mass transit programs through the end of the year and pump $20 billion into them in time for the construction season. Economists say the tax breaks could create perhaps 250,000 jobs, according to The Associated Press.
President Barack Obama said, “The American people want to see Washington put aside partisan differences and make progress on jobs, and today the Senate took one important step forward in doing that.”
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) said, “I am pleased the jobs bill passed the Senate with support from both parties. I am especially pleased it includes a payroll tax break, similar to the jobs tax credit I proposed. While not as aggressive as my jobs tax credit legislation, this assistance for businesses should provide some help for Wisconsin businesses and workers. Passage of this bill is important but more must be done, and Congress must remain focused on job creation and bringing down unemployment.”
The legislation was approved after Senators managed to defeat an attempt by the Republican leadership in the chamber to filibuster the bill earlier this week. That logjam was broken when newly elected Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) voted with the Democrats in favor of the bill to give tax credits to small businesses for new hires.
Eight Republican senators voted against cloture or were absent, which in a cloture vote is the same as a no vote, on the bill earlier this week, but then voted for the bill today.
After two days of declines, the stock market reacted favorably to the news this morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing by more than 100 points. Investors also took comfort in Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s Congressional testimony, in which he signaled that interest rates are likely to remain stable for the foreseeable future.
Local stocks in the BizTimes Stock Index partook in this morning’s rally, led by Bucyrus International Inc. (up $2.24 to $61.79) and Joy Global Inc. (up $1.34 to $50.08). The largest local decliners this morning were Strattec Security Corp. (down 82 cents to $18.10) and Manpower Inc. (down 27 cents to $51.04).

First-time unemployment insurance claims in Wisconsin declined again last week to 16,644 from 16,992 in the previous week and 18,755 in the week before.
The total of first-time claims for the week ending Feb. 20 also was down 23.7 percent from the 21,801 claims filed in the same week of 2009, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
The total number of unemployment claims in the state fell last week to 167,831, which was down from 168,745 in the prior week and down from 179,238 from the same week a year ago.

Milwaukee attorney Robert Levine, his son Michael Levine and a group of investors are working on plans to build a six-story office building on the block southeast of Wisconsin Avenue and Broadway in downtown Milwaukee. Michael Levine is also an attorney and is the owner of Next Generation Real Estate Inc., which is the developer for the project.
Current plans for the $35 million project includes 130,000 square feet of office space, 17,000 square feet of first floor retail space and 270 structured parking spaces. Read more about this new proposed development and more news in the new edition of the BizTimes Real Estate Weekly bulletin.

General Growth Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa is expected to unveil a plan today to exit bankruptcy this year by splitting the company in two, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Canadian property investor Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is pledging $2.63 billion to assist in the effort, which would enable Chicago-based General Growth to rebuff an unsolicited takeover offer by Simon Property Group Inc., which owns Southridge Mall in Greendale.
General Growth and Brookfield envision the split creating both a “pristine” company that owns nearly 200 high-quality malls and a smaller company with riskier holdings that appeal to investors willing to gamble for higher returns, according to The Journal.
The complicated plan is intended to top Simon’s $10 billion buyout bid. General Growth will argue that its plan, which is dependent on selling additional stock, offers its creditors more value than Simon's all-cash offer.
If General Growth's creditors and a bankruptcy judge approve the plan, General Growth would then sell additional new shares in the larger company in the coming months to raise capital for paying some of its debts.
It was not clear today which of the two new companies would own Mayfair Mall.
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Milwaukee-based Health Payment Systems Inc. (HPS) has named former co-chairman Eric Butlein as its new president and chief executive officer.
James Brindley has been named executive vice president of the company, and Patricia Nienow is the new senior vice president of operations.
All of the new officers have been with HPS since it was founded in 2006.
John Seramur has been elected chairman of the company’s board. Bruce Lefco was elected vice chairman of the board and will assist in the firm’s strategic initiatives. Seramur served as president, CEO and chief operating officer of the First Financial Corp., a thrift holding company from 1966 to 1998. In 1997, First Financial merged with Associated Banc-Corp.  Since 1997, he has been a director of Associated Banc-Corp. and a director of Associated Trust Company, National Association.
“We are pleased and privileged, that John, with his strong business and financial background has agreed to assume this leadership role,” Butlein said. “Through our unique single payment system, many of our clients obtained significant savings over the previous year’s health care costs, achieving our corporate objectives of reducing overall health costs, while clarifying the health care claim payment process for consumers.”

The Milwaukee Brewers today announced that for the first time, all of the 136 games to be broadcast on Fox Sports Wisconsin this year will air in high-definition.
A total of 157 Brewers games are scheduled for telecast this year, including 136 on FOX Sports Wisconsin, 15 on WMLW and six on national television.
Fox Sports Wisconsin's regular season coverage begins on Monday, April 5, with coverage of Opening Day at Miller Park when the Brewers host the Colorado Rockies at 1:10 p.m.
Other highlights from the 2010 television schedule include 13 games against the division rival Chicago Cubs, six games against the Minnesota Twins and three games against the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies.
Brian Anderson will continue to call the play-by-play this season along with Bill Schroeder, who enters his 16th season as Brewers analyst.

The Oshkosh Common Council approved a request to create a $5 million tax incremental financing (TIF) district to help Oshkosh Corp. finance construction of a high-tech paint shop. The city’s assistance matches $35 million in incentives from the state and $11.5 million from the company itself. The company needed the paint shop, called an e-coat plant, and the state and city assistance to submit a bid that secured the right to build the U.S. Army’s Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles for the next five years. That contract is worth $3 billion to the company. Read more in BizTimes Milwaukee's headlines from around the state at http://www.biztimes.com/#news.

Would a new basketball arena for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee be viable? Answer today’s BizTimes Poll question at www.biztimes.com.

BizTimes asked members of the Council of Small Business Executives (COSBE) board of directors the following question: What was the best lesson you learned from the Great Recession? Read their answers in today’s Milwaukee Biz Blog by BizTimes executive editor Steve Jagler.