Pa. Senators Stand On Opposite Sides Of The Aisle Over Senate Narrowly Passing $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KDKA) -- U.S. Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Bob Casey (D-PA) took time to express their reactions at the Senate passing President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
The Senate voted in favor of the proposed bill by a narrow margin of 50-49 on Saturday.
All Senate Democrats voted for Biden's American Rescue Plan, while all Senate Republicans voted against it.
Republican Senator Pat Toomey criticized the passage of the bill in a statement.
"Last year, Congress passed, with overwhelmingly bipartisan support, five bills that provided almost $4 trillion in response to COVID," Toomey said. "This year, President Biden and congressional Democrats refused to work with Republicans and instead rammed through a wasteful $1.9 trillion bill on a strictly partisan vote."
The bill passed by the Senate on Saturday is not the same as the plan approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.
This means that the House of Representatives will have to vote on the amended legislation next week. If they vote in favor of the legislation, it will go directly to President Joe Biden for his approval and signature.
"Now that the Senate has passed the American Rescue Plan, the country is one step closer to putting the virus behind us," said Democratic Senator Bob Casey in a statement. "When the House passes the American Rescue Plan and sends it to President Biden's desk, we will put more money in the pockets of working families, help our children return to school safely and ensure everyone who wants to can be vaccinated."
In conversations earlier this week with KDKA political editor Jon Delano, Toomey called the legislation "a blue state bailout" and Casey told KDKA he hoped the funding in this bill would make "this the last coronavirus bill."
