WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Uncertainty about having enough votes means the House didn't take up a Senate jobs bill this week, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said.
Rangel, D-N.Y., earlier this week predicted bipartisan passage of the bill before some liberal Democrats questioned whether it would be effective, The Hill reported Friday.
Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., co-chairman of the Progressive Caucus, said Friday his bloc had questions about the size of the Senate bill and called on House leaders to host a conference on it.
"The only path to make it bigger is to conference it," he said.
Leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus told Democratic leaders Thursday they didn't support the measure because they thought it was more of a tax bill than a jobs creation bill.
"I don't know where we are there," Rangel said Friday, adding, "I don't know what the whip count is."
The Senate bill includes a provision that would allow a $13 billion tax credit employers could claim for hiring employees who have been unemployed for more than 60 days, among other things.
