According to an analysis from Energy Innovation, the OBBBA would drive up the average household energy costs by $220 in 2030 and nearly $490 in 2035. In addition, the federal bill is expected to cut over 41,000 jobs from North Carolina’s workforce in 2030 and another 32,000 jobs by 2035.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, President Trump’s signature budget bill, will lead to higher energy costs and a stifled clean energy industry in North Carolina, according to clean energy experts.
Speakers at the convention raised the alarm over the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of federal workers, its attacks against collective bargaining, and the potential privatization of veterans’ health care. They called for solidarity among workers, saying that unions must present a united front or risk losing hard-fought worker protections and many of their jobs entirely.
As part of a national movement to “demand a fully funded and fully staffed VA”, nurses and union supporters voiced their concerns about the recent changes outside of Senator Ted Budd’s Wilmington office.
North Carolina businesses are feeling the pressure of President Trump’s tariffs. As businesses deal with rising costs, they are passing some of those costs onto consumers, who are now seeing higher prices on everything from coffee to guitars.
The task force comes on the heels of the Republican-led state legislature passing, over Stein’s veto, a new law that allows utility giant Duke Energy to increase costs for residential customers, as well as indications that the Trump administration plans to eliminate federal tax credits and other funds for renewable energy projects in North Carolina.
A top state health administrator warned recently that North Carolina faces myriad expensive challenges that could mean more hunger, untreated illnesses, and financial strain for families across the state, according to NC Newsline.
In addition to putting the healthcare of hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians at risk, the changes to Medicaid are expected to negatively impact rural hospitals, potentially leading to the closure of some health clinics in rural communities across the country.
For storm-ravaged communities, little has changed. Aid has been slow, and Whatley has been largely absent from the disaster zone, with Smoky Mountain News reporting that Whatley has “rarely, if ever” visited the area. Records show the FEMA council has met only twice in seven months, totaling about three hours.
For North Carolina, the cuts proposed in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act are projected to erase $32 billion in Medicaid funding over the next decade, along with food assistance, funding for public schools, and clean energy tax credits.