REP. ADAMS BLASTS GOP
FOR FAILURE TO QUELL
HIGH ACA COSTS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
It’s the New Year, over 20 million Americans are having to pay increased premiums for their Obamacare (Affordable Care Act/ACA) healthcare insurance costs, and North Carolina Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC-12), like every other House Democrat, blames Republicans.
Just before the Christmas holidays, Rep. Adams joined other House Democrats in voting against the most recent Republican healthcare bill because it failed to extend the ACA tax credits that help keep premium costs low for subscribers.
In North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District, an estimated 88,000 residents use the ACA tax credits, and across the state, 157,000 subscribers are projected to lose their health insurance because without those tax credits, their ACA premium costs will explode.
Now, as of the New Year, an estimated 4 million American ACA subscribers are expected to lose their health insurance across the country, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. This is in addition to the 10 million Americans who are projected to lose their health insurance because of provisions in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill," (OBBB) which passed Congress last July.
In addition, here in North Carolina, because of cuts in the OBBB to Medicaid and Medicare, at least five rural hospitals are at risk of closing.
Rep. Adams has been outspoken about the fact that for 16 years, Republicans in Congress have tried to kill Obamacare, and replace it with their own healthcare plan for the nation, but have failed.
In a statement issued after the last Republican healthcare vote in the House passed, Rep. Adams said, “As America suffers from the Republican healthcare and affordability crisis, the Republican solution is to make healthcare more expensive and ensure less people have access to it.”
“Their proposal raises healthcare costs without the ACA tax credits, forces Americans to lose coverage, takes away protections from our most vulnerable, and undermines women’s right to reproductive freedom. Americans deserve more than a shoddy, last-minute bill that doesn’t make their healthcare better or their lives more affordable. It’s time for Republicans to work with Democrats on a bipartisan healthcare solution because it’s clear they can’t handle it on their own.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in an interview right before Christmas that when Congress comes back in session after the holiday break, he expects the House to vote on a “…clean three-year extension of the ACA tax credits…” thus giving Congress time to find a permanent solution.
Leader Jeffries believes the three-year extension will pass the House by virtue of a discharge petition that will force the vote over Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s objections, similar to what was done forcing the release of the Epstein files in November.
There are at least four House Republicans who have committed to voting for the three-year extension bill, and if that happens, then it will be up to the Senate to also vote accordingly.
“It will pass, with a bipartisan majority, and then that will put the pressure on John Thune and Senate Republicans to actually do the right thing by the American people: pass a straightforward extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits so we can keep health care affordable for tens of millions of Americans who deserve to be able to go see a doctor when they need one,” Jeffries told ABC News.
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REP. QUICK BEMOANS
ATTACKS ON DEI AND
VOTING ACCESS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
In a commentary appearing statewide online this week titled “NC’s Future Depends on Inclusion - Not Retreat”, Rep. Amos L. Quick III (District 58), Democrat of Guilford County, warns that if North Carolina “…wants to continue leading the nation in job creation, innovation and education, we must lead on inclusion as well.”
Rep. Quick also opposed the Republican-led Guilford County Board of Elections removing North Carolina A&T State University as an early voting site for the 2026 midterm elections.
According to Rep. Quick’s commentary, removing DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs from universities, government, and private industry while also removing polling access at the nation’s largest historically black college/university (HBCU) “sends a clear and chilling message - certain voices are being pushed out of North Carolina’s future.”
In his commentary, Rep. Quick notes that with North Carolina “experiencing one of the most dynamic periods of economic growth in [its] history,” with skilled people moving here from all over the nation and the world, this is no time for either the NC General Assembly nor the UNC Board of Governors to implement policies attacking DEI.
“Instead of strengthening our talent pipeline, the General Assembly and the UNC Board of Governors have chosen to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across public universities. These decisions are not only morally troubling they are economically reckless,” Quick writes.
The impact of these DEI attacks has been sweeping, Quick continued.
• Multiple universities: including North Carolina A&T State University, have closed or restructured their DEI offices.
- Dozens of DEI-related positions were eliminated across the system.
- Identity-based centers that support historically marginalized students were
weakened or defunded.
These changes were not driven by student needs, workforce demands, or economic strategy. They were driven by politics and they jeopardize the very institutions that fuel North Carolina’s economic engine.
The Economic Case for DEI Remains Overwhelming
DEI is not a slogan. It is a proven economic strategy.
- Companies with racially and ethnically diverse leadership teams are 36% more
likely to outperform peers.
- Diverse companies are 70% more likely to capture new markets.
North Carolina’s own success story proves this.
North Carolina A&T State University, the nation’s largest HBCU, produces more Black engineers than any other institution in America. These graduates are the backbone of the Triad’s growing advanced manufacturing, aerospace, and clean-energy sectors.
Rep. Quick adds that with attacking DEI in North Carolina in 2024, came “…a broader pattern of restricting access, representation, and participation” with the removal of early voting sites at NC A&T University for 2026.
Noting the NC A&T has a “long history of high student turnout…,”students are forced to travel off campus to vote, creating unnecessary barriers for thousands of young voters.”
Rep. Quick implored his colleagues in the NC General Assembly to reverse their “regressive” trend , and not vote to override Gov. Josh Sein’s veto of their anti-DEI measures. He said the trend is not just morally wrong, but “ economically self-destructive.”
“North Carolina added more than 91,000 new jobs last year, most requiring postsecondary education or specialized training. Eliminating DEI programs directly undermines our ability to fill those jobs with homegrown talent,” Quick wrote.
Rep. Quick’s commentary comes on the heels of a new report that says North Carolina needs more teacher diversity in its training programs.
According to the National Council on Teacher Quality, 26 of North Carolina’s 57 teacher preparation programs were not producing candidates “as diverse as the state’s existing teacher workforce.”
The report added, “When teacher preparation programs fail to graduate diverse cohorts, students lose out on the proven benefits that teachers of color bring — higher achievement, stronger relationships, and classrooms where every student feels they belong.”
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