Today, North Carolina Republicans are poised to reject the most popular piece of major legislation in nearly 15 years by voting to deny direct payments to their own constituents struggling through the pandemic. In response, North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Goodwin released the following statement.

“Americans overwhelmingly support this COVID relief package because families are in crisis and need relief now. Unfortunately, North Carolina Republicans would rather play political games than help the people they were elected to serve. A vote against today’s bill is a vote against money in the pockets of working people in North Carolina who have bills to pay and kids to feed. North Carolina Republicans will have to explain why families suffering from this public health and economic crisis do not deserve direct relief — and we will remember their answers next time we cast a ballot.”

BACKGROUND: 

The overwhelming majority of Americans, including more than half of Republicans, support President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.  

• According to a new Morning Consult poll, 76 percent of Americans say they support President Biden’s stimulus package.

• That same poll shows that more than half of Republican voters support the plan. By a two-to-one margin, Republicans support the plan 60 percent to 30 percent.

A sizable number of Trump voters join a bipartisan majority of Americans in supporting President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

• McClatchy: “President Joe Biden’s pandemic relief bill is receiving overwhelming approval from swing voters, which include many of former President Donald Trump’s supporters.”
• New York Times: “Republican leaders in Washington firmly oppose the president’s stimulus plan, but a sizable number of Trump voters support it, interviews and polls show.”

Unlike Republican lawmakers, Trump voters recognize that people need help right now and additional stimulus checks.

Trump voter: “There’s a lot of people that could use those checks.”

Trump voter: “Most of it sounds like a good idea.”

Trump voter: “I’m pleased so far — I really am surprised, but I am. I agree with a lot of things Biden is doing.”

The American people know what is in the American Rescue Plan and they overwhelmingly support key provisions of the package.

• Yahoo News/YouGov Poll: “The margins are decisive. The majority of Biden’s proposals garner at least twice as much support as opposition. Nearly half are favored by more than 60 percent of Americans.”

• According to a SurveyMonkey poll, the three key components in Biden’s proposed plan are all considered to be important by at least 80 percent of Americans.
  • “In the SurveyMonkey poll, 4 in 5 Americans said it was important for the relief bill to include additional $1,400 direct checks, including nearly 7 in 10 Republicans.”
  • “A similarly large group said it was important to include money for vaccine deployment.”
  • A majority of Americans also consider money for schools and state and local governments to be “very important.”
• According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, the vast majority of Americans support additional $1,400 stimulus payments with 78 percent supporting and 18 percent opposing.###