May 5. Legislators in Raleigh are coming together to help dig North Carolina out of the COVID-19 crisis. The federal government has given North Carolina $3.5 billion to spend on COVID-19 relief. The NC General Assembly has approved spending $1.6 billion of it.
Mecklenburg County has received about $40 million from the federal government to combat COVID-19, according to County Commissioner Pat Cotham. The City of Charlotte has received $150 million and Charlotte Airport has received $130 million.
HB 1043, the spending package, allocates federal funding sent to the state from the CARES Act. There were 47 different items:
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
$70 million for government operations including unemployment office staff, overtime costs, and IT needs (much needed, as you know if you’ve tried to file a claim)
$300 million to local governments
$20 million to offset revenue losses for state agencies
$300 million to NCDOT to replace funds lost from a collapse in gas tax revenue that otherwise would have indefinitely delayed roughly 100 projects that often come with dramatic re-start costs (and several bridges were on the list)
K-12 SCHOOLS
$75 million for school breakfast and lunch programs. Parents can text FOODNC to 877-877 to locate nearby pick-up and drive-thru free meal sites while schools are closed.
$1 million to purchase extended-reach hotspots and install them in school buses
$11 million to provide community and home hotspots
$30 million to purchase computers for students
$5 million to purchase computers for school personnel
$4.5 million increase cybersecurity for schools
$10 million to provide mental health and physical health services for students
$70 million to provide supplemental summer learning programs for students
$1.488 million to expand remote instruction software for local schools
$3 million to provide non-digital remote instruction resources to students with limited internet access
$15 million in grants for schools which have had extraordinary costs associated with providing extended services to exceptional children
$660,029 for school nutrition, cleaning, and sanitizing, and digital and non-digital remote learning resources for the Morehead School for the Blind, Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf and North Carolina School for the Deaf
$5 million for a high quality, validated program, and student support for at-risk students
UNIVERSITIES AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES
$25 million for the community college system (with another $120 million from the federal government)
$44.4 million for the UNC system (with another $180 million from the federal government)
$20 million for private colleges
HEALTH CARE
$50 million for personal protective equipment
$15 million to the Duke University Human Vaccine Institute to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine
$29 million to UNC’s North Carolina Policy Collaboratory for vaccine and treatment research and community testing initiatives
$15 million to Brody School of Medicine at ECU to treatment research and community testing initiatives
$6 million to the Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine for a community and rural-focused treatment and testing
$20 million to Wake Forest University Health Services to expand its COVID-19 study on contact tracing and antibody testing
$20 million to DHHS to support local health departments, rural health providers, the State Laboratory of Public Health and behavioral health and crisis services
$6 million for the 6 food banks in NC – prioritizing purchasing food from NC farmers and vendors
$290,000 for the LINKS program, a foster care support program
$25 million for financial assistance for facilities licensed to serve Special Assistance recipients
$50 million to provide for health and critical services for rural and underserved communities
$5 million to free and charitable clinics
$1.5 million to offset costs for prescription assistance
$5 million to North Carolina Community Health Centers Association to cover some health services
$25 million to DHHS for expanding testing, contact tracing and trends tracking
$20 million to DHHS to provide behavioral health and crisis services
$19 million to DHHS to fund increases in food, safety, shelter and child care services
$1.8 million for rural and African American communities outreach, health education and testing
$65 million for grants to rural hospitals
$15 million for grants to teaching hospitals
$15 million for grants to general hospitals
$2.25 million for supplemental payments to foster care
$100,000 to reimburse Wake Forest University Health Services research
SMALL BUSINESS
$125 million for small business loans through the Golden Leaf Foundation (with restrictions to make sure those funds are *actually* going to small businesses)
OTHER
$9 million to to expand broadband access
$5 million for visit NC research and marketing
NC Senate Bill 704 contained provisions to help North Carolinians:
—An extension of driver’s license and registration expiration deadlines
—Waived interest on tax payments normally due in April
—Modifies end-of-grade testing requirements for public schools
—Adjusts the 2020-21 K-12 public school calendar
—Allows pharmacists to administer a COVID-19 vaccine once it is developed
Gov. Cooper:
“This emergency funding is just a first step. There will be more work ahead of us to repair the damage this virus has caused and to look ahead at how we can prevent illness. There has never been a more important time for bipartisanship than right now. North Carolinians in every community are getting through this crisis by working together, and they are relying on their leaders to do the same.”
