Senator Jennings Randolph introduced an administration-backed Appalachian aid bill (S.3) calling for more than $1 billion in federal assistance to the region. The Public Works Committee reported the bill to the Senate on January 27, 1965, and the Senate passed the bill on February 1, 1965, with a vote of 62-22. The House of Representatives reported the bill on February 17, 1965, and passed the House with a 257-165 roll call vote on March 3, 1965. President Johnson signed the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 into law on March 9, 1965. The act established the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). Its membership included representatives from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Impact In 2010, a study showed that the 1965 Act reduced Appalachian poverty between 1960 and 2000 by 4.2 percentage points relative to border counties, or about 10 percent on the baseline 1960 poverty rate, and real per capita incomes grew about 4 percent faster. A 2019 study found that the construction of the Appalachian Development Highway System led to economic net gains of $54 billion (approximately 0.4 percent of national income) and boosted incomes in the Appalachian region by reducing the costs of trade. References External Resources The Great Society Congress 1965 in law Great Society programs 89th United States Congress Appalachia