July 8, 2020/Press

Tillis Says Extending Unemployment Benefits Will “Make the Problem Worse”

Senator Tillis left for a two-week summer break without taking action to help the more than 1 million North Carolinians out of work because, as his office explained, he believes extending federal unemployment benefits may “make the problem worse.

Tillis has been dodging for weeks whether he thinks the federal government should extend federal unemployment benefits at the end of the month, even as workers say they’re facing “a lot of uncertainty” and “starting to panic a bit.

North Carolinians out of work have Senator Tillis to thank for our “cruel” benefits system. Tillis was an “architect of one of the stingiest state unemployment programs in the country,” helping turn North Carolina into the “worst state to be unemployed.”

“Not content to leave folks out of work with fewer benefits for less time than people in other states, Senator Tillis is now effectively shutting the door to any additional help,” NCDP spokesperson Robert Howard said. “For people out of work through no fault of their own and trying to pay rent next month, buy their prescriptions, or keep their lights on, extending benefits won’t make their situation worse — it’ll extend a lifeline. Senator Tillis continues to show he’s not on the side of North Carolina workers.”