WASHINGTON – Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has been one of the harshest critics of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan. But months after Congress approved the nearly $800 billion package, the Wisconsin lawmaker was trying to steer money under the program to companies in his home state.

Rep. Ryan wrote letters in 2009 to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis seeking stimulus grant money for two Wisconsin energy conservation companies.

One of them, the nonprofit Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., later received $20.3 million from the Energy Department to improve the energy efficiency of homes and businesses, according to federal records.