Burr, Tillis vote against Biden’s massive COVID-19 relief package as it passes Senate
North Carolina Republican Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis voted against final passage of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill — President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority — on Saturday.
The bill, called the American Rescue Plan, passed the Senate 50-49 along party lines with one Republican lawmaker absent.
The bill must return to the U.S. House for final passage since it was changed in the Senate. The bill includes $1,400 stimulus checks for many Americans, extended federal unemployment benefits, billions for state and local governments and money for vaccine distribution.
Among the Senate’s changes to the bill were the removal of a $15 minimum wage and a reduction in weekly unemployment benefits from $400 to $300.
Republicans argued that the package was too expensive and not targeted enough on COVID-19 relief. Tillis was part of a group of Republican senators that offered a “targeted” $650 billion proposal.
“My Democratic colleagues pushed their partisan spending bill through the Senate and put an end to the bipartisan spirit of COVID relief that produced results over the past year. I am disappointed the Congressional Democrats and the Biden Administration chose this path,” Tillis said in a statement after the vote.
A late February poll found 76% percent of Americans supported the bill, including 60% of Republicans. More than 520,000 Americans have died in the last year from the coronavirus pandemic, including more than 11,500 in North Carolina. The virus and shutdowns implemented to stop its spread have led to economic disruption for many and higher unemployment.
“Thom Tillis and Richard Burr have once again put politics over helping North Carolinians struggling during the pandemic,” newly elected North Carolina Democratic Party chair Bobbie Richardson said in a statement Saturday. “From putting checks in the pockets of families, to providing funding for vaccines, schools, and small businesses, the American Rescue Plan is urgently necessary and incredibly popular. It’s exactly what North Carolina needs during this crisis.”
The Senate was in session for more than 24 hours, voting on amendments to the legislation and then final passage. Republicans forced the entire 628-page bill to be read aloud earlier in the week. On Friday, Democrats scrambled to shore up support — leading to a delay of more than 11 hours.
No Republican supported the legislation in the U.S. House, including the eight GOP members of the North Carolina delegation.
Five previous coronavirus relief bills were passed with bipartisan support, something Republicans pointed to repeatedly throughout the debate.
“We set aside our partisan differences for the good of the country and refused to allow perfection to become the enemy of the good, and the results were extraordinary,” Tillis said in his statement. “Unfortunately, Democrats have managed to turn the one uniting force in Congress into just another partisan, divisive political issue of the day.”
North Carolina is set to receive more than $5.3 billion from the package and local governments in the state would get another $3.8 billion, according to Democrats in the House.
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This story was originally published March 6, 2021 at 1:11 PM.
