WASHINGTON --- Moving to give a weak economy another government boost, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to provide the jobless with up to 20 weeks in additional unemployment benefits and expand a first-time homebuyer tax credit to include a far larger pool of people entering the dormant housing market. The $24 billion bill, passed 98-0, also provides tax relief for struggling businesses.

The bill comes to the rescue of more than 1 million out-of-work people who will run out of benefits by the end of the year. Everyone will receive 14 weeks of additional benefits, while those in states with unemployment rates of 8.5 percent and above get six weeks on top of that.

With enactment, the jobless in the hardest-hit states could receive up to 99 weeks of benefits, which average about $300 a week. That would well exceed the record of 65 weeks during the 1970s.

The $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, enacted as part of the stimulus package in February and set to expire this month, would be extended and expanded to include a $6,500 credit for people who have lived in their current homes at least five years.

Congress has no choice but to act when there are 15 million jobless chasing 3 million jobs and 7,000 people run out of benefits every day, said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Economists talk about the end of the recession, he said, but "for most Americans, it will still be some time before things start getting better."

The legislation now goes to the House, which is expected to quickly send it to President Obama for his signature.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the bill is "vital to Americans who have lost their jobs as a result of the deepest recession in over three-quarters of a century." He planned to bring it to the floor for a vote as early as today.

The unemployment rate is 9.8 percent. The benefit extension would be the fourth since June 2008 and the first since passage of the $787 billion stimulus package in February.

The legislation would extend the $8,000 tax credit through June as long as the buyer enters into a binding contract before April 30. It doubles the income ceiling to $125,000 for individuals.

The measure also strengthens the ability of the IRS to stop ineligible people from filing fraudulent claims.

The new $6,500 credit for existing homeowners, said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., a co-sponsor of the measure, "is going to help us boost what is the problem in the U.S. housing market today, and that is what is called the move-up market."

The third leg of the bill extends to all businesses that have incurred losses in 2008 and 2009 the power to seek refunds for taxes paid on profits over the past five years.