The House passed an economic recovery package this week that would send at least $16 billion to North Carolina, including $1.9 billion over the next two years to help the state patch its gaping budget hole.

The $819 billion package is a mix of spending and targeted tax cuts that supporters hope will immediately create new jobs and kick-start the slumping economy.

Despite President Barack Obama’s plea for bipartisan unity, the package passed along party lines, with every Republican and 11 Democrats voting against it. Rep. Heath Shuler was the only North Carolina Democrat to vote against the measure.

"It is time for government to take up the cause of working families and small businesses in this country," said U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell of the 8th District. "It is our job to represent their interests, first and foremost."

The package that passed included almost $300 billion in increased tax breaks for the poor, some parents, homebuyers and businesses. Republican and Democratic economists disagree about how effective tax cuts are in stimulating the economy.

Shuler said he voted against the package because it would significantly expand the deficit and contained “too much additional spending in areas that will not offer immediate economic stimulus.”

The Senate is expected to pass a costlier version of the package next week. Then, a committee of House members and senators will hash out differences between the bills. President Barack Obama hopes to sign it by mid-February.

The centerpiece tax cut calls for a $500 break for single workers and $1,000 for couples, including those who don't earn enough to owe federal income taxes. There are also tax breaks for businesses making investments in equipment and renewable energy production.

A state-by-state analysis of the House bill by the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, found that North Carolina would receive at least $16 billion from the larger spending and tax cut provisions in the bill.

North Carolina’s share includes $937 million in 2009 and again in 2010 to make up a budget shortfall in the state.

The plan includes more than $500 billion for road projects, school construction, health care for the poor and other programs.

Kissell sponsored a provision in the bill that would require the Homeland Security Department to only purchase uniforms made in the United States.

Kissell, a former textile worker, said he hoped it would help North Carolina’s ailing textile and apparel manufacturers. North Carolina alone has lost 8,000 textile and apparel jobs due to the closing of 14 plants in just the past year. Kissell, who represents a district known for its once-bustling and prosperous textile plants, said he believes that this amendment will revitalize a struggling but determined industry.

"This amendment is one small step to insure that the brave men and women who help keep our nation safe will wear uniforms produced in this country and made by their fellow Americans," he said.