House Passes $26 Billion Jobs Bill

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The House has passed a $26 billion jobs bill to protect 300,000 teachers and other nonfederal government workers from election-year layoffs.

House Democratic leaders summoned lawmakers back to Washington during their summer break to act on the measure, saying that Congress could not sit idle when thousands of kids were preparing to go back to schools with depleted teaching staffs.

The majority of Republicans voted against the bill, which now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. Republicans said Democrats were handing a favor to their teacher union allies and that Congress should end its spending spree.

The bill is paid for mainly by closing a tax loophole used by multinational corporations and reducing food stamp benefits.