By: Nicholas Sohr

An attempt to further expand a proposed job creation tax credit died on the Senate floor this morning, but the bill – without the amendment – did gain preliminary approval and moved toward passage by the full chamber.

Sen. Alex X. Mooney, R-Frederick and Washington, proposed expanding the program to $28 million. The measure, which faced bipartisan opposition, failed 39-7.

A Senate committee last week raised the amount of individual credits for hiring unemployed workers to $5,000 – Gov. Martin O’Malley originally proposed $3,000 – but left a $20 million cap in place. The original proposal would have covered 6,666 hirings while the amended proposal would cover 4,000.

“We’re talking another 1,600 jobs that could be created under this bill,” Mooney said of his amendment.

Given Maryland’s less-than-rosy fiscal outlook – the state faces annual deficits of more than $2 billion for the foreseeable future – members of both parties cast votes against Mooney’s measure.

“Given where we are now fiscally, we don’t know where we would get the other $8 million,” said Sen. Ulysses Currie, D-Prince George’s, the chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee.

Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus, R-Lower Shore, said he “regretfully opposes” the further expansion of the tax credit program. Stoltzfus voted in favor of the bill in committee.

“We have to look at things other than the government picking the winners and losers,” Stoltzfus said.

The measure will return to the Senate floor for final passage. A House committee is looking at the bill’s twin, which has not been amended to $5,000, and is expected to vote on it this week.