“No amount of deficit spending will heal an economy that remains locked down. This so-called American Rescue Plan focuses more on progressive pet projects than opening America, while only 9% of this bill focuses on COVID testing and vaccine distribution,” said Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th.

EButler County's congressional representatives voted along party lines in an early Saturday morning roll call vote resulting in approval of the proposed $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan, based on an economic stimulus plan President Joe Biden announced in January.

All Republican representatives, including Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, and Glenn Thompson, R-15th, along with two Democrats voted against the bill, which passed in a 219-212 vote cast just after 2 a.m. Saturday,

Rep. Connor Lamb, D-17th, voted in favor of the bill that now goes to the Senate for consideration.

This is an excerpt from a story that appears in Monday's Butler Eagle.