(Washington, D.C.) - Montana's senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus lead final passage of the bipartisan compromise to extend the payroll tax cut in the Senate today.  Baucus secured the agreement as co-chair of the bipartisan House-Senate Conference Committee tasked with extending the cut along with the so-called "doc fix" to ensure seniors have access to their doctors and unemployment insurance for workers who've lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

"As we vote on this bill, and many of us prepare to go home to see the folks we work for, I ask you just to remember four numbers," Baucus said to his colleagues on the Senate floor.  "Number one: 160 million - that's the number of Americans who are  helped by this bill.  Number two: 1,000 - that's $1,000 in the pockets of those 160 million workers.  Number three: 13 million - that's the number of Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and will be dramatically helped by this bill.  And finally, number four: 48 million - that's the number of seniors in America who will be able to see their doctors because of this bill.  Just remember those four numbers and vote for this bill."  

Quick Facts:

• According to the Treasury Department, the Payroll Tax Holiday benefitted 600,000 Montana workers in 2011 and pumped $300 million back into the Montana economy.
• Expert economists have warned that letting the payroll tax cut expire could cause a drop in GDP of up to 1.5 percent.
• This agreement also includes extensions through 2012 of both the so-called "doc fix" to ensure seniors have access to their doctors through Medicare, and up to 99 weeks of unemployment insurance, depending on the state, for workers who've lots their jobs through no fault of their own.
• Without this extension, 10,475 Montanans, who've lost their jobs through no fault of their own, would have been cut off from their safety-net. Economic experts agree that Unemployment Insurance benefits are critical to economic growth because they are  spent on immediate needs, like groceries and rent, and pumped back into the economy right away.
• Without this extension 160,000 Montana seniors on Medicare could lose access to their doctors through Medicare.