Tillis Has Delivered For North Carolina In Fight Against COVID-19

Since the beginning of this pandemic, Senator Tillis has been fighting to protect the physical and economic health of North Carolinians.

Some highlights from Senator Tillis’ COVID-19 response:

Delivering Tens of Billions to North Carolina to Save Jobs and Support Hospitals, Doctors, and Nurses on the Frontlines 

• Tillis worked across the aisle to expand the Paycheck Protection portion of the CARES Act, which has yielded more than $12.4 billion for nearly 122,000 North Carolina small businesses in need and helped save over one million jobs.
• Tillis secured more than $4 billion in direct funding to the state of N.C. through the CARES Act.
• Tillis also secured nearly $2 billion for North Carolina health care providers, $378 million for North Carolina higher education institutions and students, over $430 million for North Carolina public schools, and $238 million for North Carolina airports.
• The Phase I relief package allocated an additional $13 million in North Carolina-specific funding for medical supplies, research and development; and hospital and health system preparedness.

 Leading on Expanding Testing for North Carolinians 

•   Tillis called for the Trump Administration to ramp up testing on February 24th.
•   When North Carolina was experiencing testing shortages in early March, Tillis wrote to Vice President Pence urging the Administration to send additional resources to increase testing capacity for COVID-19 in North Carolina.
•   Tillis then worked to get the FDA to expedite the approval process of a new COVID-19 test from UNC Health, drastically increasing North Carolina’s testing capabilities.
•   Through the CARES Act, Tillis helped secure an additional $12 million to expand testing at healthcare facilities all across the state.

Leading on Developing a Safe and Effective Vaccine for Americans 

•   Tillis supported the early effort to jumpstart Operation Warp Speed to utilize federal money for an all-hands-on-deck effort to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.
•   Tillis then introduced the America First Vaccine Act to ensure that pharmaceutical companies that received taxpayer funding through Operation Warp Speed provide the vaccine to Americans before sending it to other countries.

Holding China Accountable to Protect the Health and Safety of North Carolinians

• Tillis has said China was not forthcoming about COVID-19 and it cost us valuable time.
• That is why he released an 18-point plan to hold China accountable by ending economic dependency on China, formally investigating Chinese communist leaders, sanctioning the Chinese government and expanding the United States military presence in Asia.
• Tillis also joined other lawmakers in introducing a bill that allows Americans who have been harmed by COVID-19 to sue the Chinese government for their role in spreading the virus.

Connecting with North Carolinians

• Tillis has held over 50 telephone town halls to keep the people of North Carolina informed of the federal response to COVID-19.

○   Nearly 500,000 North Carolinians have participated in Tillis’  telephone town halls and he has answered over 600 constituent questions.

Senator Tillis has been clear that protecting the safety and well-being of North Carolinians is his number one priority during this pandemic, which is why he’s worked across the aisle to provide critical resources for the people of this state.