The number one challenge facing our country is to create jobs and get our economy growing, and small businesses are the engine of job creation. Our political parties may disagree on some things, but we should all agree on helping these companies to thrive and expand.

This week, the Senate voted on the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act, which provides tax breaks for companies that create jobs and invest in their business. This bill would give businesses that create jobs a Hiring Tax Credit equal to 10% of the increase in their payroll. This tax credit is capped at $500,000 per business, which targets the majority of the benefit to small businesses.

This bill would also allow companies that make major investments in their business to deduct the full cost of that investment on this year’s tax return. Normally, companies must spread this deduction over several years. This would encourage businesses to make investments now to get our economy moving – and cutting taxes for these businesses enables them to grow even more.

Both parties have supported these tax cuts in the past, and this is the bipartisan approach our economy needs. Unfortunately, this bill was blocked by Senate Republicans by a vote of 53-44. Even though it received majority support, we needed 60 votes to end the filibuster.

I’m disappointed that the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act was blocked this week, but we will keep working hard to find common ground to get our economy moving. I’m hopeful that we’ll have more opportunities to help small business before the year is over.