Virginia's Republican-run House of Delegates has rejected a proposed expansion of unemployment benefits and $125 million in federal stimulus cash to pay for it.
On largely a party-line vote, the House on Wednesday turned down amendments by Democratic Governor Tim Kaine that were necessary to make
Virginia eligible for the federal aid. The defeat came after the measure survived a state Senate vote on the slimmest of party line margins, 21-19.
Republicans in the House and Senate opposed the measure because it expands jobless benefits for the first time to part-time workers and because it would eventually boost taxes on employers.
Democrats countered that the sharpest economic collapse since the Great Depression has sent unemployment rates soaring and called for extraordinary measures.
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