WASHINGTON -- House and Senate negotiators have reached tentative agreement on renewing a payroll tax cut that delivers about $20 a week to the average worker. They hope to send the legislation to President Barack Obama as early as this week.

Under the outlines of the emerging agreement, a 2 percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax would be extended through the end of the year. Jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed would be renewed as well, and doctors would be saved from a big cut in their Medicare payments.

The deal would not only be a win for Obama but would take the payroll tax fight - which had Republicans on the defensive - off the table for the fall election campaign.