N.C. legislature allocates nearly $1.5 billion of federal funds to COVID-19 recovery

The N.C. General Assembly passed, and Gov. Roy Cooper signed, a pair of bills that allocated nearly $1.5 billion of federal money from the CARES Act as part of the state’s response to COVID-19.

Cooper signed the bills — which received unanimous support in both the state House and Senate — during a press briefing on Monday.

“This is a time where North Carolina has truly come together to fight this disease,” Cooper said. “This emergency funding is just a first step. There will be more work ahead. We need it to repair the damage that has been done by this virus and to look ahead as to how we can prevent illness in the future.”

The Senate bill, labeled as SB704, covered policy changes related to the pandemic, and state Sen. Valerie Foushee (D-Durham), Chatham’s member of the Senate, joined several of her colleagues as primary sponsor. The House Bill, HB1043, allocated the funds from the federal government, and state Rep. Robert Reives II (D-Chatham) was one of many bill sponsors.

The Senate bill, among other things:

• Extended the payment deadline for franchise, corporate income and individual income tax to July 15
• Enshrined Gov. Cooper’s executive order expanding emergency unemployment benefits into law
• Canceled end-of-class and end-of-grade tests, and eliminated the requirement for K-3 reading assessments for this school year
• Altered the school calendar opening requirement to allow schools to open August 17, a week earlier than normal
• Called for the formation of a Strategic State Stockpile of medical supplies to be accessed by public and private healthcare entities

The House bill directed the funds to various agencies across state government and other areas, including:

• $75 million for school nutrition services through the Dept. of Public Instruction
• $35 million for computers and other electronic devices for students through DPI
• $125 million for small business loans through the Golden LEAF Foundation
• $85 million spread to five universities for vaccine research, testing efforts and rural-focused healthcare response
• $50 million to purchase personal protective equipment and other healthcare supplies for COVID-19 response

The bill also allocated $150 million for county governments, with each county receiving a base allocation of $250,000, with remaining funds distributed on a per capita basis. Additionally, $2.25 million will be given to foster care families in the form of monthly supplemental payments of $100 for each child receiving such assistance payments for April, May and June.

Elected officials at Monday’s press conference said they were pleased with the spirit of cooperation through the negotiations, but added that more work needed to be done, with specific kinks to be worked out over unemployment benefits.

“There are more needs. I hope the spirit of consensus that brings us together today will continue,” Cooper said. “I think there is some disagreement about how much and for what period of time we should do unemployment insurance. Because it was controversial and because we couldn’t reach agreement, that’s been put off to a later time.”

Reives said in a tweet soon after the bill signing that more would come.

“This is a good and bipartisan start, but we still have work to do,” the tweet stated.

Reporter Zachary Horner can be reached at zhorner@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @ZachHornerCNR.