The President signed the HIRE Act today, an $18 billion jobs bill which he said was absolutely necessary to pass, but that it was only the first step to nurture an environment to help the private sector begin hiring again.

As has become usual for the President, he based his remarks around a list of three items which he said the bill would achieve when he signed it into law.  Although, he did preface the signing ceremony by commenting on the favourable rating given by the CBO for the Health-care bill, the speech was entirely on the jobs bill.

The first highlight of the bill was that businesses would receive a payroll tax credit of up to $6,200 per new employee if a business hires someone who as been out of work for at least two months.  The tax cut will will begin retroactively from February 2010, lasting until the end of this year and offers a higher tax credit the sooner businesses hire workers in the year.

Secondly, the bill offers tax breaks to businesses who buy equipment, or invest in their company this year, allowing them to write off purchases up to $250,000 immediately.  And lastly, the bill will remodel municipal bonds into something called "Build America Bonds," making it easier for municipalities to raise funds for local projects and infrastructure, like schools.

Those are the three highlights of the tax cuts found in the bill, at a cost of around $13.5 billion, while the rest of the bill is for more shovel ready construction projects across the nation.  This is the first major piece of legislation signed by the President this year and it even managed to get 12 Republicans to vote for it in the Senate.

Watch the speech and signing below: