Obama inks jobs bill, lauds bipartisanship

WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama signed Thursday an $18 billion jobs bill he says will help put Americans back to work and push the economic recovery ahead.

"While this jobs bill is absolutely necessary, it's by no means enough," Obama said in a somber tone during the Rose Garden signing ceremony. "There's a lot more that we're going to need to do to spur hiring in the private sector and bring about full economic recovery."

The measure, which enjoyed bipartisan support as it moved through Congress, will do several things, Obama said.

First, it will forgive payroll taxes for businesses hiring someone who has been unemployed for at least two months, he said. The benefit applies to hiring people unemployed between February and the end of the year.

"So this tax cut says to employers: If you hire a worker who's unemployed, you won't have to pay payroll taxes on that worker for the rest of the year," Obama said.

The measure also allows small businesses to write off investments they make in equipment this year, he said. It also will reform municipal bonds to spur job creation by expanding investment in schools and clean energy projects.

"With this law, we'll make it easier for them (cities) to raise the money they need to do what they want to do by using a model that we've called Build America Bonds -- one of the most successful programs in the (economic stimulus package)," he said.

The jobs bill also will maintain "maintain crucial investments in our roads and our bridges as we head into the spring and summer months, when construction jobs are picking up," he said.

Obama thanked Democrats and Republicans for joining together to pass the bill, saying economic issues aren't "about politics."

"They're not about Democrat versus Republican. This isn't a game that we're playing here," he said. "They're about the people in this country who are out of work and looking for a job; they're about all the Americans -- of every race and region and age -- who've shared their stories with me over the last year."