As Eviction Crisis Looms in NC, Tillis Must Clarify Whether He Supports Cutting Unemployment Payment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

July 28, 2020

As Eviction Crisis Looms in NC, Tillis Must Clarify Whether He Supports Cutting Unemployment Payments

In Washington, Tillis Calls for Unemployment “Continuity” But Fails to Say if He Will Preserve Payments or Cut Them

Raleigh, N.C. - Earlier today, Senator Thom Tillis told reporters in Washington that he wanted to cut a deal on unemployment. However, Tillis failed to say whether he would support cutting $600 federal unemployment payments or push to extend them in full. Previously, Tillis had claimed that extending unemployment would “make the problem worse.”

According to a report yesterday, 43% of North Carolina renter households are facing eviction now that federal unemployment payments have expired.

“Senator Tillis can claim he wants a deal, but that’s not enough. He needs to tell the public exactly where he stands on cutting unemployment payments for more than 800,000 North Carolinians,” said Piedmont Rising Executive Director Casey Wilkinson. “North Carolina could soon face an eviction crisis, and no deal is acceptable if it doesn’t protect North Carolinians who are struggling to pay for housing, health care, food and other basic living expenses.”

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