EXCLUSIVE — The National Republican Campaign Committee has furthered its efforts to target House Democrats who dodged or outright ran from questions about President Joe Biden’s ability to serve with a new advertisement released Tuesday.

The 54-second ad, called “Doomed,” which was shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner, features a mix of clips from NRCC staffers and reporters asking vulnerable House Democrats like Reps. Pat Ryan (D-NY), Don Davis (D-NC), and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), as well as caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) and other members, whether they believe Biden should be the Democratic nominee for president.

The first five clips feature videos grabbed from reporters speaking to Ryan, Davis, Aguilar, Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM), and Steven Horsford (D-NV) after Biden’s widely criticized first presidential debate performance. Other Democrats featured are Reps. Frank Mrvan (D-IN), Dan Kildee (D-MI), and Kim Schrier (D-WA), three of whom were spoken to by NRCC staffers.

In one clip, Ryan says, “I’m in a rush” when a reporter asks him if Biden should be the nominee in the House tunnels. Horsford declines to answer the question, saying he was “trying to get to votes.”

In a clip that shows a conversation with an NRCC staffer and Kaptur, the Ohio congresswoman is seen putting her hand on the staffer’s camera after being asked about Biden’s ability to be the party’s nominee.

“Extreme House Democrats ran for the hills after watching Joe Biden sink their chances of a House majority,” the NRCC’s rapid response director, Macy Gardner, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Their longstanding praise of Biden’s mental acuity absolutely crushes House Democrats’ credibility and leaves them fleeing from anyone who questions why they put political party allegiances over the good of the country.”

Several congressional Democrats have admitted that the president did poorly in his first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump, but they have stopped short of calling for him to step aside or drop from the ticket — at least for now.

When asked for comment, Aguilar’s office pointed the Washington Examiner to the California Democrat’s interview with CNN in which he called the debate a “tough night” but called Trump’s remarks “scary.”

“Joe Biden is at the top of the ticket,” Aguilar said. “He’s our nominee.”

Meanwhile, House Republicans’ campaign arm has been blasting their vulnerable Democratic colleagues for running from questions regarding Biden’s mental acuity and viability to serve as president.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is leading House GOP lawmakers in calling on Vice President Kamala Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment. He filed a resolution on Friday that would compel Harris to convene the president’s Cabinet and activate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare Biden “incapable of executing the duties of his office.” In doing so, Harris would then succeed Biden as acting president.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters on Friday that Biden’s Cabinet should begin having conversations about the president’s ability to carry out the remainder of his term as well.

Biden’s allies on Capitol Hill have argued that the president is still the best candidate to articulate the Democratic platform and one debate should not overshadow Biden’s record.

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“We’ve both had bad days. We’ve both had bad nights. One night is not who a person is,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), a member of leadership, said.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Ryan, Vasquez, Davis, Horsford, Kaptur, Mrvan, Kildee, and Schrier for comment.

(The Center Square) – A panel of Pennsylvania Senate lawmakers approved a bill that gives more care authority to nurse practitioners.

The proposal is just one of several iterations lawmakers have debated for more than a decade as the state grapples with vanishing health care access in smaller communities.

“In rural counties, people must travel significantly farther to access care and there is rarely public transportation,” said primes sponsor Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington. “It can be very difficult and even impossible for people to access the health care they need, particularly as people age and tend to need care more often.”

Senate Bill 25 would give certified nurse practitioners authority to offer primary health care services in rural counties after fulfilling a three-year, 36-hour collaboration agreement with a physician. Bartolotta said doing so would bridge the gap for 3.6 million residents.

The Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee passed the legislation 9-5 on Monday, priming the bill for a final vote on the chamber floor. It would also need approval in the state House before reaching the governor’s desk.

(The Center Square) — State governments saw more tax revenues and federal support flow into their coffers during the pandemic.

But that largesse may be ending — federal aid is winding down, spending has outpaced tax revenue, and in Pennsylvania, an aging population demands more government services.

Over the last five years, General Fund revenues grew by 30% while spending grew by 33%, according to a recent analysis by the Independent Fiscal Office. Corporate net income tax revenues grew dramatically (66%) and would have been more without rate reductions in recent years, as did inheritance tax revenues (56%), sales and use taxes (29%) and personal income taxes (26%).

At the same time, inflation grew by 22%; in real terms, Pennsylvania’s revenues went up by 8% while spending went up by 11%.

But in the future, those trends will change.

“FY 2023-24 largely marks the final year that temporary federal monies will directly support state spending (excludes state savings) and prior stimulus funds will support consumer spending,” the IFO noted. “Most analysts now expect economic and revenue growth rates to revert to historical averages.”

Consumers have “exhausted any savings built up during the pandemic,” the analysis noted, and political choices made on education, and the growing population that relies upon programs like Medicaid, will drive spending growth in the future.

The fundamentals don’t look good. Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity has warned of a “silver tsunami” as the commonwealth’s average age gets higher, which could mean billions more in spending along with a reduction in tax revenues. The IFO has warned of such a scenario already.

Another problem has been the declining population. From 2021 to 2022, Pennsylvania lost almost 22,000 people to other states, mostly in the South. The commonwealth lost residents across all age groups and income levels.

The IFO expects revenue to grow by 1.1% in fiscal year 2024-25 while inflation will grow by 3%, effectively a revenue contraction. Most state spending growth has been driven by the Department of Human Services and the Department of Education.

(The Center Square) – New legislation in North Carolina outlines extensive new guidelines the State Board of Elections must follow, all in an effort to ensure an updated voter registration list and fair elections.

Senate Bill 747 is one of 12 bills that totally or partially took effect Monday.

Another new law, Senate Bill 452, will give the State Board of Education more control over high school sports in the state. This is through oversight of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto was nullified by the General Assembly’s override. It expands the rights of students to appeal decisions made by the athletic association to an “independent appeals board.”

The new election legislation requires checks for address changes, stricter rules for mail-in voting, enters the state into “data sharing agreements with other states to cross-check information on voter registration and voting records,” and the removal of “deceased persons” and “ineligible voters” from the voter list.

Ineligible voters include felons and noncitizens.

Some aspects of the law, most directly related to same-day voting, are tied up in court facing challenges.

Senate Bill 677 expedites the construction of certain multi-family or commercial building projects, allowing surveyors to expedite their “at-risk construction permitting.”

Another law, House Bill 600, seeks to provide “regulatory relief” to citizens in North Carolina. Much of the new law deals with agricultural, energy, envirometal, and natural resources, outlining changes in the regulations for industries like fisheries.

Other aspects of the law loosens restrictions on everything from online marketplaces to the pay requirements for minor league baseball players.

Other bills that took effect include House Bill 11, which clarifies the regulation requirements for North Carolina schools for the Deaf and Blind, and House Bill 198, which makes some changes to transportation laws in the state.

(The Center Square) – New York lost more than $14.1 billion in state-adjusted gross income over a two-year period as residents fled to New Jersey, Florida and other low-tax states, according to newly released Internal Revenue Service data.

The data, based on income tax returns, shows New York lost more than 222,702 residents in the 2021 and 2022 calendar years driven by “domestic out-migration” of people moving to other states. The data shows the state lost more than $14.1 billion in taxable income during those two years.

An estimated 476,051 filers and their dependents moved to other states between 2021 and 2022, a slight drop of 2% from the previous year’s outmigration, according to the IRS data. This was offset by the 253,349 filers and dependents who moved into New York from other states in the same period – an increase of nearly 13% from the 2020-21 inflow.

New Jersey and Florida were the biggest beneficiaries of New York’s transplants. More than 88,344 people moved from New York to Florida, taking $9.5 billion. Another 79,883 New Yorkers moved to neighboring New Jersey, bringing about $6 billion in income with them.

New Yorkers also fled the state for Pennsylvania, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia, according to the data.

The exact loss of the state’s tax coffers is difficult to gauge because New Yorkers are taxed at variable rates depending on their income. New York City’s top earners are taxed at 14.776%, which includes the state’s 10.9% rate and the city’s 3.876% rate – the highest top-tier tax rate in the nation.

But the decline continues a trend that critics attribute to the state’s high cost of living, a pressing housing shortage and other issues that are prompting exits.

The latest U.S. Census estimates, released in May, shows New York outmigration of 216,778 between 2022 and 2023. Between 2020 and 2023 the state lost 482,257 residents, according to the data. Nowhere was the state’s outmigration more prevalent than in New York City. The nation’s largest city with a population of 8.2 million had a net loss of nearly 78,000 residents moving out of the city between 2022 and 2023.

Experts say the outmigration has less to do with politics than it does with a lack of housing, prevailing wages and access to employment.

However, federal data shows that the population decline has major implications for the states, revenue and tax collections.

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has blamed a lack of housing as a primary reason New Yorkers are fleeing the state, making the case for expanding housing stock and making existing homes more affordable.

“People aren’t moving for warmer weather or lower taxes. They’re moving next door,” Hochul said in her State of the State address in January. “Three of the top five states New Yorkers are moving to share our borders and have similar taxes. People are earning in New York but living in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.”

Republicans say New York’s outmigration is being driven largely by the state’s highest-in-the-nation tax burden and a business sector that is struggling under excessive regulations, as well as rising labor costs.