Story highlights
JOBS Act is aimed at removing barriers to small business investment
Most of the JOBS Act measures have already passed the House with bipartisan support
Vote comes as economy is showing signs of improvement after recession
The House is expected to vote Thursday on a jobs bill that would mark rare agreement between the Obama administration and House Republicans.
The proposal called the JOBS Act, short for “Jump-starting Our Business Startups,” comprises of six measures aimed at removing barriers to small business investment.
Republican leaders and the White House sent signals of a possible detente last week as they huddled over a lunch of salmon risotto.
“The president was very optimistic about moving that bill through the House,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said following the February 29 meeting. “Frankly, it was a very good luncheon, and I’m encouraged by the attitude and the tone that we had during the meeting.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney called the lunch meeting “cordial and constructive,” and cited proposals to help small businesses as an area of possible agreement.
“We’ve been very explicit about the opportunity to move forward on some aspects of” the JOBS proposal, Carney said.
Most of the JOBS Act measures have already passed the House with bipartisan support.
The vote comes as the U.S. economy is starting to show signs of sustained recovery years after a crippling recession.