Washington — The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation today to renew a trio of tax benefits important to colleges, setting up a showdown with the U.S. Senate and President Bush.

Like a measure passed by the Senate on Wednesday, the bill passed by the House today would extend for two years a tuition tax deduction, a research-and-development tax credit, and an IRA rollover for charitable contributions.

However, the House bill would offset the entire cost of the extension by limiting tax breaks in the oil and gas industry and by closing loopholes in tax rules for overseas income, while the Senate bill would pay for only a portion of it (about $25-billion out of a total of $68-billion, according to the Associated Press).

The House also voted separately on a “fix” to the alternative minimum tax that the Senate included in its measure.

Senate leaders are insisting on a bill that includes both the tax benefits and the AMT fix, and Republicans in both chambers of Congress say it’s wrong to increase taxes to pay for tax-break renewals. But “Blue Dog” Democrats in the House insist that the bill comply with “pay as you go” rules, which require new spending to be offset by taxes or reduced spending elsewhere.

A vote on the “tax extenders” bill is considered essential before lawmakers adjourn for the campaign season, either later today or next week. (The Senate has recently indicated that it will work through the weekend.) But with Senate leaders calling the House bill a dead end, and President Bush threatening to veto the measure, it remains unclear how lawmakers will break the deadlock over the offsets. —Kelly Field