March 11, 2022/Media, Press

ICYMI: On One Year Anniversary of American Rescue Plan, President Biden & Democrats Continue to Lower Costs for NC Families While Republicans Push Agenda of Tax Hikes & Raised Premiums

Today, Senior Pastor of Word Tabernacle Church and State Representative James Gailliard, former president and alumnus of Saint Augustine’s University and North Carolina A&T State University Dr. Everett Ward, Garland restaurant owner Cheetie Kumar and Raleigh parent Antoine Marshall held a press conference on the one-year anniversary of President Biden and Democrats’ American Rescue Plan, which helped to get over six million North Carolinians fully vaccinated, cut health insurance premiums and taxes for North Carolina families, provided funding to re-open schools and aided small businesses.

While President Biden and Democrats have continued to lay out their vision to lower costs for North Carolinians following the American Rescue Plan’s passage, Republicans are pushing an agenda to raise income taxes and premiums for working families.

Click here to watch the full event.

“While Democrats are rescuing, Republicans are ruining. It ought not be lost on any of us that 49 Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted against this legislation. It also should not be lost on us that 210 Republicans in the U.S. House voted against this legislation. As we continue a path of recovery from the pandemic, I’m grateful as a pastor and as a state representative for the leadership of President Biden and the progress we’re making with the American Rescue Plan,” said Senior Pastor of Word Tabernacle Church and State Representative James Gailliard.

“One year ago today, President Biden, Vice President Harris and Democrats in Congress, including North Carolina’s very own champion for HBCUs, Congresswoman Alma Adams, took critical steps to pass the American Rescue Plan, which included over $307 million in relief funding for North Carolina’s ten HBCUs. While President Biden, Vice President Harris and Democrats made these funds possible, not a single Republican in Congress from North Carolina voted to provide our HBCUs this crucial funding,” said Saint Augustine’s University former president and North Carolina A&T State University alumnus Dr. Everett Ward.

“The warmth of the people and sense of community is what first brought me to Raleigh. Owning a small business only intensified that – not only do small businesses create good-paying jobs, they enrich lives and our communities. President Biden’s American Rescue Plan delivered immediate relief to the small businesses that bore the brunt of the pandemic – including my own – understanding that when small businesses do well, our economy and communities do too,” said Garland restaurant owner Cheetie Kumar.

“The Child Tax Credit included in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan helped to provide the breathing room needed for my family to put our two youngests in daycare again. It could not be more clear: Republicans’ economic agenda is taking away health care from middle-class Americans, raising premiums, and hiking taxes on half of the country while President Biden and Democrats are focused on the steps to lower costs for North Carolina families,” said Raleigh parent Antoine Marshall.

###