Economy

The resolution, backed by all present Democrats and three Republicans — Rand Paul (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — failed in a 49-49 tie vote in the GOP-controlled Senate. It sought to end the national emergency Trump declared to justify his broad tariff regime. Despite his past support for narrower efforts to rein in Trump’s tariff authority, Tillis declined to join this latest push.

The 18 senators who signed the letter warned that without swift intervention, the tariffs could cause lasting harm to North Carolina’s economy.

Voicing support for the tariffs while it was politically advantageous for him in gaining Trump’s favor and then flipping his script when they went wrong, as predicted–without naming the party responsible–is weak. While Tillis bounces back and forth, desperately trying to balance the extremism of his party’s primary voters with the moderate general electorate of North Carolina, his constituents suffer.

Democrats in the North Carolina legislature are attempting to raise the state’s minimum wage which has not been increased in over 15 years. Representatives Allison Dahl (D-District 11), Aisha Dew (D-District 111), Bryan Cohn (D-District 32), and Marcia Morey (D-District 30) filed House Bill 353, titled the “Fair Minimum Wage Act”, would not just raise the minimum wage once but continue to raise it as time goes on.