Tillis Again Discusses Differences With Cunningham On Paycheck Protection Program

August 26th, 2020

Continues Statewide Business Tour In Triad And Triangle Regions

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Senator Thom Tillis held roundtable discussions with business leaders in the Triad and Triangle on Tuesday to discuss the benefits of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and to advocate for further COVID-19 relief. Tillis visited Smith Phillips Building Supply in Winston Salem, Illuminating Technologies in Greensboro and the Angus Barn in Raleigh – all three of which are PPP recipients.

Yesterday’s events were part of Tillis’ statewide business roundtable tour where he has been contrasting his support for the PPP with Cal Cunningham’s hypocritical criticisms of the program. Tillis made similar stops in Charlotte on Monday and in Fayetteville last Tuesday.

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Watch WXII’s coverage of Tillis’ roundtable with Smith Phillips Building Supply in Winston Salem HERE.

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Tillis then stopped at Illuminating Technologies in Greensboro.

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The final event Tillis held was at the Angus Barn in Raleigh. 

Coverage from the North State Journal

• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) held a roundtable at the Angus Barn in Raleigh to discuss the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, with concerned restaurant owners.
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  Tillis said he wants Congress to come back early to address more relief for businesses that have been affected by COVID-19.

  “We’ve heard a lot of stories where it (PPP) saved a lot of jobs, saved a lot of businesses and we’re working hard to get it back before the Senate to increase the funding for it and eliminate the politics for a program that, across the board, has gotten rave reviews,” said Tillis.

  Tillis said some type of new PPP funding to give businesses the additional help they need is a top priority.
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  Tillis said he was pushing to get congress to come back early and dive into PPP and reopening issues, as well as unemployment, education and daycare.  He also criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for wanting to “bailout” states.

  “I think Pelosi owes people an explanation of why the consensus part of the negation shouldn’t go forward,” said Tillis. “I completely disagree with Nancy Pelosi that we should give a trillion dollars to bail out the states that have financial problems before COVID ever existed.”

  Tillis continued, “It’s a trillion dollars to states like New York – Chuck Schumer’s home – and California, Nancy Pelosi’s home. They’ve been in fiscal trouble for years… they’re trying to hold it (COVID relief) up.”
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  Tillis was also asked about the difference between him and his opponent, Cal Cunningham, on taxes.

  “Cal Cunningham made a no-tax pledge and broke it at the height of a recession,” said Tillis. “Thom Tillis made a cut tax pledge and fulfilled it at the height of the recession.

Coverage from the Raleigh News & Observer

• Congress should come back early from its current summer break and get to work on negotiating a new round of coronavirus relief spending, North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said at a stop in Raleigh Tuesday.
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  “We’ve heard a lot of stories where it saved a lot of jobs, saved a lot of businesses,” Tillis said of the $659 billion PPP. “And we’re working hard to get it back before the Senate to increase the funding for it, and to eliminate the politics for a program that, across the board, has gotten rave reviews.”
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  Tillis has been traveling around the state holding meetings. That included Tuesday’s sit-down with half a dozen influential players in the state’s restaurant industry, just outside the wine cellar at The Angus Barn, a Raleigh steakhouse.

  In addition to asking for more PPP money, they also had requests like loosening up the coronavirus health rules that restaurants are facing.
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  Tillis encouraged people to wear masks — and to do so properly, covering up their nose too, not just their mouth. He said even people who don’t think they will get coronavirus should wear masks anyway, to try to stop the spread and help prevent businesses they visit from getting sued, in case of an outbreak.

  He also spoke about other things he thinks Congress can come to some sort of bipartisan deal on — namely increased spending for education, child care and research into a coronavirus vaccine.
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