Steve Girard for Congress

Steve Girard — Republican for Congress

A Common-Sense Conservative for North Carolina's 5th District

Washington is full of career politicians who talk a good game while our country, and our pocketbooks, suffer. We need practical thinking from outside the system. My platform focuses on specific, actionable steps Congress can take to energize our economy, fix our broken immigration system, and defend our constitutional liberties.

Jobs, Small Business, and Rural Growth

We cannot wait for Raleigh or local governments to fix our economy. Here is what I will push immediately:

  • Boost rural manufacturing by shifting reshoring incentives away from only large cities
  • Cut small business regulation. Simplify compliance so businesses do not need lawyers and accountants to start or grow
  • Rural Reinvestment Tax Credit
    A dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for businesses that will:
    • Create jobs in rural counties
    • Open storefronts in hollowed-out downtowns
    • Renovate empty commercial buildings
  • Federal incentives, including:
    • Cash grants and guaranteed low-interest loans for builders
    • Five-year federal property tax offsets for first-time homebuyers in rural counties
    • Incentives apply only to full-time residents and primary homes
    • Reduce red tape at all levels of government that suppresses the building of starter homes and the licensing of tradesmen
  • Rural Infrastructure Acceleration Fund
    Direct project funding—no studies, no delays—to expand broadband, fix dangerous roads, and modernize water projects and bridges. For example, a county with unsafe bridges, limited broadband, or outdated water systems could apply once, and funding would flow within 60 days. Projects are chosen based on immediate need, not state averages.

Cutting Waste, Big Bills, and Bureaucracy

  • Single Subject Legislation — one issue per bill
  • 200-Page Cap on Regular Legislation — over 200 pages must be split into separate bills
  • Return to a True Federal Budget Process — Congress must pass twelve separate appropriations bills on time
  • Eliminate Outdated Regulations Annually — every agency must remove outdated or duplicative rules and report publicly

Health Care That Works in Rural America

  • Allow families to buy insurance across state lines and create federal tax credits to make coverage affordable
  • Make pandemic-era telehealth rules permanent, including Medicare telehealth from home, phone-only visits, and cross-state care
  • Fully reimburse rural clinics and expand mobile health services, including mental health and addiction care
  • Eliminate hospital transfer barriers so rural ERs can quickly transfer patients
  • Tie federal health funding directly to county-level need, not state averages
  • Cap insulin and essential generic drug prices where competition has collapsed
  • Provide incentives, including student loan forgiveness, to attract doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to rural areas
  • Increase authority for physician assistants and nurses to expand access

Social Security and Medicare

  • Protect Social Security and Medicare — no cuts
  • No raising the retirement age. We keep our promises

Looking Out for Seniors and the Elderly

  • Their income and expenses need to be more predictable
  • Costs should be capped where able
  • No more cuts to Medicaid and Medicare
  • Permanent tax relief on Social Security benefits
  • Push for real property tax relief for senior residents on their primary home

Education That Works for Families

  • Cut federal mandates by 50 percent to reduce paperwork and empower local school boards
  • Return the savings back to the local school districts
  • Expand school choice—public, private, charter, magnet, online, or homeschool
  • Sunset all federal education programs every ten years, so Congress must re-justify their existence
  • Mandatory School Transparency and Parents' Federal Education Bill of Rights — all curriculum, reading lists, spending, and results must be online; parents are guaranteed access to lesson plans, materials, teacher communications, and opt-out choices
  • Universal Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) — federal dollars follow the student for public, private, charter, homeschool, tutoring, and vocational training
  • Vocational and Skilled Trades Expansion Act — massive federal investment in trades, plus employer partnerships and wage subsidies
  • Teacher Pension and Retirement Protection — federal oversight standards ensure states cannot raid pension systems

Safe, Orderly, Common-Sense Border Policy

  • Mandatory E-Verify for All Employers — penalties for companies, not workers
  • Finish Physical Barriers Where Border Patrol Requests Them — modern fencing, surveillance, and access roads
  • Immediate Deportation of Fentanyl Traffickers — zero tolerance

Second Amendment and Gun Rights

  • National Concealed Carry Reciprocity — a North Carolina permit should be valid nationwide
  • End Back-Door Gun Registries — ban federal agencies from collecting or storing firearm ownership data
  • Oppose federal red-flag laws that bypass due process
  • Protect semiautomatic firearms from federal bans
  • Restore Due Process Standards for ATF Rulemaking — Congress must approve major regulatory changes
  • Strengthen penalties for gun crimes. Target criminals who use guns illegally—not hunters, collectors, or citizens protecting their families

Voter ID and Election Integrity

  • Require voter ID for all federal elections
  • In-person voting
  • Mandate same-day results reporting for federal races
  • Audit federal elections every cycle

Life and Abortion Policy

  • Support limits on late-term abortion with clear exceptions. These decisions should be made at the state level
  • Oppose federal limits on abortion
  • Fund access to contraception
  • Support adoption and maternal care — increase support for maternal health in rural areas, prenatal care, adoption tax credits
  • Oppose any federal funds to be used for performing abortions

Political Reform and Ending Corruption

  • Ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks
  • Ban members from working for lobbyists after serving
  • Favor term limits — three terms for House and one term for Senate