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Today, Congressman David Scott voted to stimulate the local economy and provide stability to Georgia families hit hardest by the recession by extending unemployment benefits, the homebuyers' tax credit, and tax relief for military families. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act will provide immediate assistance to millions of families.

"This is another crucial step to provide immediate relief to struggling Georgians who have lost, or are on the verge of losing, their unemployment benefits and get our economy moving in the right direction," Congressman Scott said. "The families who receive these benefits will be putting money right back into our local economy - buying groceries, filling their cars with gas, and making their mortgage payments on time."

The legislation will provide families with 14 weeks of additional benefits, and six more weeks to the 27 states with the highest unemployment rates. Georgia is one of the high unemployment states with over 58,000 residents exhausting their current unemployment benefits and a state unemployment rate around 10 percent.

The bill includes an extension of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit through April 30, 2010 and provides a $6,500 credit to new purchasers who have lived in their current residence for five years or more.  Approximately 55,840 Georgians claimed the tax credit during the past year.  The bill also helps military families struggling to make mortgage payments by making those payments tax-exempt.