HARRISBURG — Sens. Bob Casey and Arlen Specter voted Monday for a bill that would renew the federal unemployment benefits that lapsed two weeks ago and keep in place the decade-old income tax cuts that are expiring Dec. 31.

The bill easily passed a preliminary Senate vote. A final vote could come today or Wednesday.

Casey, a Democrat, said in a statement that there are aspects of the bill he does not like, but he said it addresses his top priorities of economic growth, job creation and tax relief for millions of people.

“Any compromise, by definition, is not a perfect piece of legislation, and there are aspects of this bill that I do not like,” Casey said in a statement Saturday. “I will support this compromise because it is in the best interest of the economic recovery and the people of Pennsylvania.”

However, he wanted to extend middle-class tax cuts for longer than just the two years in the bill, and he called estate tax changes “far too generous and costly.”

The Republican elected to replace Democratic incumbent Specter, Pat Toomey, said Monday that he had not made up his mind about how he would have voted for the bill.

Toomey, to be sworn in Jan. 5, said he supports the extension of the unemployment benefits but only if the spending is offset by other spending cuts. He also said he would prefer extending the benefits for a shorter period than the 13 months in the bill.

He said he was unhappy about some special tax breaks in the bill, such as $5 billion for ethanol subsidies, but he said he applauded the extension of the tax cuts.