Trio of Chattanooga-area lawmakers supports payroll tax cut

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By Chris Carroll December 15, 2011 3 min read

Tennessee Congressman Scott DesJarlais

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn.

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., responds to a question from Danielle Hooper during a town hall-type meeting Monday at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School in Ringgold, Ga.

The latest political battle in Washington, which involves payroll taxes and oil pipelines, found local Republican lawmakers siding with House leadership Tuesday evening.

U.S. Reps. Scott DesJarlais, Chuck Fleischmann and Tom Graves voted to extend a cut in payroll taxes for 160 million middle-class Americans.

But it has almost no chance of becoming law.

Passed 234-193 mostly along party lines, the bill would prevent a scheduled increase in payroll taxes, but it cleared the GOP-controlled House because it was packaged with unrelated provisions, including one that could accelerate construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

The proposal also would reduce the 99-week-cap on jobless benefits to 59 weeks.