Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) voted against President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, but that did not stop him from reaping the benefits of it.
Kelly, an outspoken critic of Biden, received a grant for the installation of solar panels at one of his car dealership locations, per the HuffPost.
The Uniontown dealership owned by Mike Kelly Automotive Group received about $315,000 in grant money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The money will be used to install a 261.9-kilowatt solar panel array, per the Erie Times News, who reported on the grant Monday.
According to the USDA, the grant could save the firm $23,700 per year in energy costs.
The grant was distributed through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which started in 2018. However, the Inflation Reduction Act added $1 billion into the program, per the HuffPost.
The federal government then said that it would distribute grants from that money to rural businesses in 2023 and 2024.
Following the bill’s passage, Kelly doubted whether it could make a significant difference.
The lawmaker called it the “so-called Inflation Reduction Act,” adding it was “loaded with bad policy and wasteful spending that will ultimately worsen inflation, expand government, and hurt the middle-class.”
“The bill provides $375 billion in so-called ‘climate change’ legislation, which include $7,500 tax credits for wealthy Americans to purchase electric vehicles (EV),” he said.
When the grant was announced, Kelly spokesperson Matt Knoedler told the Erie Times-News, “Representative Kelly’s energy policy has always supported an all-of-the-above approach,” Knoedler said. “Additionally, Rep. Kelly does not have an active role in the day-to-day operations of his family’s business.”
Mike Kelly Toyota, which received the grant, is located in GOP Rep. Guy Reschenthaler’s district south of the area
Kelly represents.
“In his 2022 financial disclosure, Kelly reported an ownership stake in Mike Kelly Automotive Group worth between $50,001 and $100,000, and a salary from the company of just under $30,000,” per the HuffPost. “Kelly also reported a “note receivable” from the company worth between $500,001 and $1 million.”
Kelly has represented the district, located in northwestern Pennsylvania, since 2011.
His reelection bid will be challenged by Democrat Preston Nouri, a 25-year-old legislative analyst for the Department of Defense
Nouri said Kelly should return the grant money.
“Mike Kelly shows his true colors once again,” Nouri said. “For over 13 years, he keeps getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar, taking taxpayer money to enrich himself while working against the interests of the people he’s supposed to represent.”
Kelly was scrutinized for opposing student debt cancellation after accepting nearly $1 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans in the COVID-19 pandemic that were forgiven.
“PPP loans are designed to be forgiven,” Kelly posted on X, formerly Twitter, in August 2022. “Student loans are not. Big difference!”
