On the anniversary of the American Rescue Plan, GOP Senate candidates are still running against billion in resources for their home state
On the one-year anniversary of President Biden and congressional Democrats’ historic American Rescue Plan, 2022 U.S. Senate Republican incumbents and candidates have committed themselves to run against investments that lowered the cost of health care, reduced energy bills, increased wages for workers, and lowered taxes for middle-class families.
In the first year alone the American Rescue Plan made critical, targeted investments that positively impacted areas from healthcare, education, and small businesses, to rural communities and childcare. It’s going to be a rough eight months for Republican Senate candidates who will have to explain their opposition to funding that safely reopened schools, cut costs for hard-working parents, and helped generate one of the fastest economic recoveries in our nation’s history.
Here is a look at the GOP U.S. Senate candidates’ opposition to the American Rescue Plan:
Wisconsin
- Sen. Ron Johnson delayed and then voted against the American Rescue Plan which included a monthly Child Tax Credit, COVID relief for health agencies, and millions to lower costs for Wisconsin’s dairy industry.
Arizona
- Sen. Mark Kelly cast a critical vote which secured billions of dollars for communities across Arizona — a stark contrast from Mark Brnovich, Blake Masters, and Jim Lamon, who lined up against these popular investments to safely reopen schools and lower utility bills.
Pennsylvania
- David McCormick, Mehmet Oz, Jeff Bartos, Kathy Barnette, and Carla Sands do not support the American Rescue Plan and have openly attacked the bill, despite the fact that it improves Medicaid services for seniors and lowers the cost of child care.
Georgia
- Sen. Raphael Warnock worked to secure $4.9 billion for Georgia to expand rural broadband, increase access to health care, and improve higher learning, but Gary Black, Kelvin King, Latham Saddler, and Herschel Walker, have refused to support the bill.
New Hampshire
- Sen. Maggie Hassan secured $1.5 billion for New Hampshire’s towns, villages, and water precincts. But her Republican opponents, Kevin Smith, Chuck Morse, and Don Bolduc don’t support funding for first responders and lower costs for parents.
Missouri
- Billy Long and Vicky Hartzler voted against passing the American Rescue Plan with Hartzler claiming funding for K-12 education and ACA expansion were “unnecessary things.”
Nevada
- Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto championed the $750 million for the tourism industry and the billions to help keep small restaurants open. At the same time, Adam Laxalt attacked the plan’s middle-class tax cut while simultaneously defending his support for the GOP’s 2017 trillion-dollar corporate tax giveaway.
Ohio
- Mike Gibbons, Josh Mandel, Jane Timken, and JD Vance have been outspoken critics of the American Rescue Plan — saying they would “stand up and fight against” investments in affordable housing, programs to curb youth violence, and funding to maintain firefighters and police officers.
North Carolina
- Ted Budd, Mark Walker, and Pat McCrory, each of whom have criticized the American Rescue Plan — will have to explain to voters why they opposed funding that lowered costs for middle-class families.
Florida
- Sen. Marco Rubio voted against the American Rescue Plan, even though the funding helped safely reopen schools, prevented pay cuts to first responders, cut taxes for working parents, and boosted critical small business assistance.
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Published: Mar 10, 2022 | Last Modified: Feb 1, 2024