Yesterday, as the Senate debated a nearly $2 trillion relief package, Senator Tillis voted to limit unemployment benefits for North Carolina workers who’ve been laid off because of the coronavirus, voting in favor of an amendment offered by Republican Senators Sasse, Graham, and Scott.

Less than 12 hours later, new data showed that a record 3.3 million Americans – including nearly 200,000 North Carolinians, more than the total claims filed in 2019 – filed for unemployment due to the public health crisis.

Senator Tillis’ vote to limit unemployment benefits in the middle of a public health and economic crisis while previously voting twice to ram through a multibillion dollar corporate slush fund without meaningful oversight and accountability measures reflects his true priorities. Small business owners and workers across the state have called on Senator Tillis and Congress to prioritize them, not corporate interests, expressing frustration that “every door you knock on is closed.”

While Tillis sought to limit the impact of yesterday’s aid package because it was too generous for North Carolinians out of work, Cal Cunningham raised concerns over an unaccountable corporate slush fund, calling it the “corruption” he “intends to fight in Washington.”

Cal noted that Senator Tillis “was ready to greenlight this bill without first securing basic provisions to guard against that kind of behavior,” reflecting that while Cal is working for North Carolina families, Tillis is working for his corporate special interest backers.

“In the middle of a global pandemic, with millions of Americans out of work, Senator Tillis showed his true values, voting to limit unemployment benefits because he thought they were too generous while signing off on giving billions to corporations,” NCDP spokesman Robert Howard said. “Even in the midst of a crisis, Senator Tillis continues to show that his values are to look out for big corporate interests, not working North Carolinians, while Cal Cunningham showed that his values lie with making sure Washington works for North Carolina families.”