By a 68-29 vote, the Senate just passed a jobs bill that gives a tax break to employers who hire from the ranks of the unemployed and puts about $20 billion into the federal highway construction fund.

Already passed by the House, the legislation now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

According to the Associated Press, "optimistic estimates predict the tax break could generate perhaps 250,000 jobs through the end of the year, but that would be just a tiny fraction of the 8.4 million jobs lost since the start of the recession."

"This is just the first, certainly not the last, piece of legislation that we will put forward in relation to jobs," said the Senate bill's sponsor Democrat Charles Schumer of New York.

Update at 12:10 p.m. ET: The roll call of votes is now online here.

All but one of the "nay" votes were all cast by Republicans — Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., was lone Democrat to go against his party's wishes. The 11 Republicans who crossed the aisle to vote "yea" with the Democrats (and the two independents who caucus with the Democrats) were:

— Lamar Alexander, Tenn.
— Kit Bond, Mo.
— Scott Brown, Mass.
— Richard Burr, N.C.
— Thad Cochran, Miss.
— Susan Collins, Maine
— James Inhofe, Okla.
— George LeMieux, Fla.
— Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
— Olympia Snowe, Maine
— George Voinovich, Ohio

Three senators did not vote: Robert Bennett, R-Utah; Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.; and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.