Laurie Buckhout (NC-01) Research Report

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• April 2026: Laurie Buckhout said the One Big Beautiful Bill “delivered” for North Carolina.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill enacted the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, including a projected $50 billion loss in North Carolina, slashed local hospital revenue, and would kick nearly 42,000 people in NC-01 off their health insurance.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill made the largest cuts to Medicaid in the program’s history.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill would take health insurance away from more than 14 million people.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill was estimated to kick nearly 42,000 people in NC-01 off their health insurance.
  • NC Department of Health and Human Services: North Carolina would lose $50 billion over ten years from the Big Beautiful Bill.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill was projected to cut nearly $30 million in revenue to hospitals in NC-01.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill threatened to reverse North Carolina’s 2023 Medicaid expansion, risking the health care coverage of nearly 43,000 people in NC-01 and 680,000 statewide.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill risked triggering the reversal of North Carolina’s Medicaid expansion.
  • Since North Carolina expanded Medicaid in 2023, nearly 42,600 people in NC-01 and 680,000 people statewide received coverage.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill’s cuts to Medicaid forced North Carolina to cut provider reimbursement rates, causing some providers to stop taking Medicaid patients and risking clinic closures.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill let the ACA tax credits expire, driving up health care costs for more than 67,000 individuals in NC-01 on marketplace plans.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill and Trump’s tariffs made health care more expensive for more than 67,000 NC-01 residents that got coverage from ACA marketplace plans.
  • 2025: All subsidized enrollees in NC-01 were expected to see an average premium increase of 138% in their out-of-pocket monthly payments if the ACA tax credits expired.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill enacted the largest SNAP cuts in history, threatening food assistance for more than 60,000 households in NC-01.
  • Center for American Progress: the One Big Beautiful Bill enacted the largest SNAP cuts in the program’s history.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bull risked food assistance for 60,848 households in NC-01.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill’s biggest tax cuts benefited the wealthiest giving them tax cuts three times greater than for working Americans.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill gave billions in tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy at the expense of working families.
  • Institute in Taxation and Economic Policy: the One Big Beautiful Bill would give the richest 1% of Americans $117 billion in net tax cuts in 2026.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill’s biggest tax cuts benefited the wealthiest giving them tax cuts three times greater than for working Americans.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill gutted clean energy tax credits, threatening $328 million in clean energy investments in NC-01, risking more than 20,000 jobs in North Carolina, and raising energy costs for North Carolina households by $490.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill gutted clean energy tax credits.
  • The Atlantic: Future clean energy projects would cost about 50% more than those that received tax credits.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill threatened $328 million in clean energy investments in NC-01.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill threatened more than 20,000 future clean energy jobs in North Carolina.
  • Cuts to clean energy tax credits in the One Big Beautiful Bill contributed to the cancellation of a $1.4 billion battery plant in NC-01, costing more than 1,000 jobs in the district.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill was estimated to raise energy costs for North Carolina residents by $490 per year on average.
  • Clean Energy Buyers Association: The One Big Beautiful Bill’s cuts to clean energy tax credits would increase energy costs for North Carolinians by 14.4% as less power was added to the grid.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill made health care more expensive for seniors and older Americans.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill would force nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts over the next ten years.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill made health care more expensive for seniors on Medicare.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill made health care more expensive for older Americans on ACA marketplace plans.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill would lower safety and quality standards for nursing homes.
• Buckhout touted the Rural Health Transformation Program in the Big Beautiful Bill that fell far short of North Carolina’s $50 billion Medicaid funding loss originally caused by the bill.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill included a $50 billion fund for rural health care and directed $213 million to North Carolina for 2026.
  • Buckhout said the solution to rural hospitals’ struggle was the rural health funding included in the Big Beautiful Bill.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill was slated to cost North Carolina $50 billion in Medicaid funding.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill threatened to close medical providers that offered abortions.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill cut Medicaid funds to organizations that provide abortions and sought to “defund” Planned Parenthood.
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill incentivized insurers for Affordable Care Act plans to drop abortion coverage.

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• Buckhout supported tariffs and defended trade policies claiming the tariffs would lead to lower prices.
  • 2026: Buckhout supported tariffs.
  • 2026: Buckhout’s message to North Carolina farmers suffering from tariffs was to wait for trade deals to be finalized.
  • 2026: Buckhout said tariffs would lead to prices going down.
• North Carolina paid $3.5 billion in tariff costs.
• The reckless tariff policy could result in $695 million in losses and 8,000 lost jobs in North Carolina as North Carolina farmers were struggling to sell their products overseas because of retaliatory tariffs impacting the state’s agricultural industry.
  • Tariffs impacting the agriculture industry could result in $695 million in losses and 8,000 lost jobs in North Carolina and put an industry responsible for one sixth of the state’s overall income at risk.
  • North Carolina farmers were struggling to sell their products overseas as countries responded to American trade policies with retaliatory tariffs putting billions of dollars worth of trade at risk in the state.
• China did not agree to buy U.S. flue-cured tobacco because of the trade war, which threatened North Carolina’s economy as the country’s largest tobacco producer with over 800 tobacco farms that generated $557 million in revenue and employed 5,000 workers.
  • China did not agree to buy the 2025 American flue-cured tobacco crop and delayed or refused to pay for purchased 2024 tobacco leaf because of tariffs.
  • North Carolina was number one tobacco producer in the United States accounting for over half of U.S. flue-cured tobacco.
  • China was the leading international buyer of American flue-cured tobacco.
  • China’s decision to not buy American flue-cured tobacco threatened to eliminate approximately $220 million in export value and diminish farm output by 65 million pounds.
  • Tariffs put North Carolina’s tobacco industry that had 822 tobacco farms that generated $557 million in revenue and employed 5,000 workers at risk.
  • 2025: North Carolina experienced a year-over-year decline in tobacco production despite being of the state’s largest commodities.
• The increased tariffs on softwood lumber, upholstered furniture imports, and imports of kitchen cabinets and vanities worsened North Carolina’s furniture industry by raising prices even forcing a business to close.
  • October 2025: tariffs increased on softwood lumber, upholstered furniture imports, and imports of kitchen cabinets and vanities.
  • Furniture industry leaders warned new tariffs would not help the industry but worsen it.
  • Home goods prices at High Point Market increased by as much as 42% because of tariffs.
  • Tariffs influenced a North Carolina homeware company to close and fire its staff.
• The reckless tariffs were one of the largest tax increases in the country’s history and were estimated to cost Americans thousands of dollars.
  • 2025: Tariffs were one of the largest tax increases in the country’s history.
  • 2026: Tariffs were estimated to cost American families thousands per year.
  • Customers shouldered the burden of tariffs as they raised the price of basic gods like food and clothing.

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• Buckhout ran her campaign on a suite of standard conservative positions, including calls to weaken the ACA, and cheerlead for Trump’s economy.
  • Buckhout said Trump wanted to repeal Obamacare’s “worst provisions.”
  • Buckhout said “hospitals are businesses.”
  • Buckhout praised Trump’s economic record, even on gas prices.
  • Buckhout pledged to help Trump conduct mass deportations.