Cooper signs coronavirus relief bills, will outline ‘Phase 1’ of reopening by Wednesday
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed a financial-relief package Monday, two days after state lawmakers unanimously approved it as a response to the coronavirus.
The governor also said details about what he calls Phase One of his reopening plan will be announced by Wednesday.
The General Assembly passed two bills on Saturday — one about policy and one about funding — to spend $1.57 billion of federal funds coming to North Carolina for coronavirus relief. The state receives $3.5 billion in federal coronavirus money from the CARES Act.
Cooper signed the bills during a news conference Monday morning, accompanied by Senate leader Phil Berger, House Speaker Tim Moore, Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue and House Minority Leader Darren Jackson. Cooper, Blue and Jackson are Democrats; Berger and Moore are Republicans.
It was a compromise package, as the House wanted to spend more and the Senate wanted to spend less. Cooper’s own plan, announced before the legislature returned in late April, would have spent $1.4 billion.
Cooper said he would announce the specifics of Phase One — what stores can open and what people are allowed to do — either Tuesday or Wednesday. While preaching caution, he said he’s hoping the state can get to the first phase by this weekend.
Cooper said that protections for customers and employees need to be in place for businesses that reopen.
“Please know that the success that we’ve had so far in flattening the curve is due to the work that North Carolinians are doing to stay home as much as they can, to sanitize and keep their physical distance between themselves and others,” Cooper said. “We can lose ground quickly and cause many more deaths if we don’t keep doing those things.”
Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, said physical distancing, face covering and hand washing will remain important even as restrictions are eased.
“We certainly know that indoor activities are at a higher risk than outdoor activities,” Cohen said. “Activities where you sit for a prolonged period of time, generally for more than 10 minutes, that’s the thing that is going to increase our risk.”
Because of that, Cohen said, lower-risk activities, like commerce and going to parks, will be allowed first.
COVID-19 relief
The General Assembly’s COVID-19 legislation includes millions of dollars for personal protective equipment, university research, testing, contact tracing, small business loans and food banks. Policy in the package includes starting the next school year a week earlier, on Aug. 17, and waiving end-of-grade testing.
Some other education policies, like waiving K-3 class size reduction plans for a year, will be taken up in the second round of coronavirus legislation, lawmakers said. Other items that didn’t make it in the final legislation would have allowed restaurants to sell take-out mixed drinks and increased maximum unemployment payments from $350 to $400 a week.
The legislature’s session lasted five days before lawmakers adjourned for a few weeks. It was a session like no other in history — many lawmakers wore masks and rotated in and out of floor sessions to maintain distancing or used voting by proxy. Only lawmakers, staff and credentialed press were allowed in the Legislative Building, and everyone had their temperature taken as they came inside. Outside on the first day, hundreds of ReOpen NC protesters called for a faster lifting of restrictions.
Cooper’s statewide stay-at-home order was extended until at least May 8, with a modified order to follow it and last two to three weeks. Schools are closed for the rest of the academic year, though remote online learning continues.
The legislature is set to return the week of May 18. Moore said his chamber’s COVID-19 committee meetings over the next couple of weeks will look at projecting educational needs, including the coming school year.
There are more than 11,000 cases of COVID-19 in North Carolina and the death toll as topped 400.
Budget cuts
On the state budget, Cooper said there will be fiscal cuts to balance the budget as required by the state constitution.
Berger said the state’s rainy day fund of $1.2 billion won’t be enough to cover what could be a $3.5 to $4 billion shortfall because of the coronavirus impact.
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 11:42 AM with the headline "Cooper signs coronavirus relief bills, will outline ‘Phase 1’ of reopening by Wednesday."
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