Gov. Cooper lays out plan to use federal, state funds for COVID-19 relief

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper outlined a plan Thursday to allocate federal COVID-19 relief funds and invest state resources to help communities hurting because of the pandemic.

“North Carolinians have stood strong during this pandemic and we are ready to move our state forward. The past year has tested all of us but we must work together on a focused, responsible plan to help families and businesses survive and grow strong while we bolster our economy and health care system and make sure students and teachers are in classrooms ready to learn. We can emerge from these challenging times stronger than ever,” Cooper said.

The governor recommends investing $695 million from the state’s General Fund for the following:

• $50 million for continued hazard duty pay for state employees on the frontlines of COVID-19, especially law enforcement and corrections personnel who face COVID-19 every day.
• $64.5 million for the replenishment of the North Carolina State Health Plan, which has incurred costs responding to COVID-19.
• $468 million for bonuses for educators and school personnel in public K-12 schools, community colleges and the university system. Educators have stepped up in extraordinary ways during the pandemic but were not a part of the raises approved in the last biennium for state employees.
• $30 million to extend high-speed internet to all corners of the state and other urgent connectivity initiatives, such as IT infrastructure, security for community colleges and enhancement of 35,000 hotspots used for education.
• $37 million to support small businesses that have suffered during the pandemic and often don’t have large cash reserves, including small business counselling, marketing for tourism and hospitality, ReTOOLNC program for historically underutilized businesses (HUBs), and the business loan program at Golden L.E.A.F.
• Expansion of state unemployment benefits, which are still among the lowest in the country. Despite the pandemic forcing thousands of people to lose their jobs – particularly in the restaurant and service industries - North Carolina’s Unemployment Trust Fund remains healthy, with a balance of more than $2.59 billion. North Carolina should increase the maximum duration of benefits to 26 weeks and increase the maximum benefit from $350 to $500 per week.

Cooper’s plan would also invest funds from the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which totaled more than $4 billion for North Carolina.

The federal funding would help with COVID-19 relief, such as vaccines, supplies to slow the spread, assistance for rent and utility bills and funding to put food on the table. Here is a breakdown of what the federal funding will address:

• Approximately $2 billion for emergency assistance for public and private K-12 schools and higher education institutions.
• $336 million for childcare and development block grants.
• Approximately $700 million for access to vaccines and testing, tracing and prevention measures to slow the spread of the virus.
• $546 million for emergency rental assistance, which will build on North Carolina’s current work. While this is the first dedicated federal funding for rental assistance, North Carolina recognized the extraordinary need to help people stay in their homes during the pandemic and created the HOPE program to pay back rent and utilities using last year’s CRF funds.
• $258 million for Highway Infrastructure and $65 million for airports.
• $47 million for Community Mental Health Services.
• Funding for food assistance programs, such as SNAP and school nutrition.

“I appreciate the work of legislators to quickly pass vital relief as the state responded to the pandemic last year and I believe we can work together to get the job done again. Our communities and people face serious challenges and we must come together to identify areas of common ground and help our people beat the pandemic and thrive once again,” Cooper said.

NC lawmakers pass COVID relief, advance K-12 reopening bill

North Carolina lawmakers on Thursday unanimously approved a coronavirus relief bill that sends federal money approved by Congress in December to schools for reopening, public health officials distributing the vaccine and residents struggling to pay their rent.

The proposal now heading to Gov. Roy Cooper provides $1.6 billion for education with the aim of helping get kids back to school quicker and addressing learning loss.

“The thing that does not get talked about a whole lot is what’s going on with education with the children who are not able to get that in-person classroom experience,” House Speaker Tim Moore said during the legislative session. “Guys, if we don’t get this right and find a way to make sure they’re caught up, this is something that we won’t just be paying for the next year. We’ll be paying for it for decades.”

The bill also includes $546 million in federal funds for emergency rental assistance to North Carolinians and $95 million for the state Department of Health and Human Services to assist local health officials in the distribution of the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines.

If the bill is approved by Cooper, parents who didn’t take advantage of an opportunity last year to get a $335 check to help offset childcare costs and expenses associated with remote learning would have until May 31 to take advantage of the so-called Extra Credit grants. The bill extends the program that expired in the fall and paves the way for thousands of families still eligible for the direct checks to receive them.

North Carolina state senators on Thursday approved a bill requiring all 115 public school districts to offer in-person instruction to the state’s roughly 1.5 million K-12 students.

The proposal, which soon will head to the House and would then have to be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, allows parents to have the option of continuing with online-only instruction.

“Let’s move with a sense of urgency,” said state Sen. Deanna Ballard, a Watauga County Republican who introduced the school reopening bill scheduled to be considered by the House next week.

The reopening bill passed by a vote of 29-16.

Republicans and Democrats alike agree remote learning has widened the education gap, leaving many kids behind in terms of academic performance. Parents with special needs children have faced additional hardship in getting their kids the resources and attention that schools are better equipped to provide.

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But teachers remain concerned about their safety, especially at a time when the state does not prioritize them in the current group of eligible vaccine recipients, unless they are at least 65 years old. The North Carolina Association of Educators, the largest state lobbying group for teachers, also wants to see additional money being available to protect the workforce in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

School boards would have about two weeks to reopen with in-person learning if Cooper decided to sign it into law. Sen. Don Davis, a Pitt County Democrat who works with Ballard on the education committee, unsuccessfully tried to give districts 30 days to reopen, rather than 15.

“I’m more than willing to work with you. Are you willing to work with us?” Davis asked Ballard.

“I am working with you,” Ballard replied. “I have been talking and working with you.”

Cooper this week strongly encouraged districts to reopen but opposed the bill introduced by Republicans to mandate the reopening. He instead wants local school boards to make that decision, with a preference for getting elementary school students back in the classroom.

Wake and Mecklenburg counties, which are home to the state’s two largest districts, are presently operating fully virtual but have approved plans for phased-in reopening later this month.

Guidance from the Cooper administration on Tuesday allows K-5 pupils to go back in person without having to maintain 6 feet (1.8 meters) of physical distancing.

Cox Media Group