NC Gov. Cooper signs COVID-19 relief for schools, vaccine assistance, parent checks
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed the first COVID-19 relief bill of 2021 on Wednesday, which funds vaccine distribution and schools reopening as well as extending the deadline for parents to apply for $335 checks.
“This pandemic continues to strain communities across our state, and this investment of federal funds in critical areas will help us defeat COVID-19 and build back a stronger and more resilient North Carolina,” Cooper said in an emailed statement Wednesday. The bill is Senate Bill 36, called 2020 Covid Relief Bill Modifications.
The $335 checks are the 2020 Extra Credit grants to offset parents’ remote learning costs for their children. They were part of a previous coronavirus relief package, but there were leftover funds after more than a million parents received their checks. This allows the application deadline to be extended for parents who qualified but did not receive checks in 2020. It extends the application deadline to May 31, so the state can spend money already allocated but that North Carolina could have lost out on. The money is all from the federal government.
The bill also includes $1.6 billion for schools to help them reopen safely for in-person learning. That money would be given to an elementary and secondary school emergency relief fund in the Department of Public Instruction.
There is also $95 million to help with vaccine distribution in the state.
The bill includes state funding for a program to expand broadband internet, known as the GREAT grant program, and rental assistance. It easily passed both the state House and Senate the first week in February.
Overall, the bill allocates $2.24 billion in federal money. It passed the House unanimously last week and has been sitting on Cooper’s desk since Thursday. Rep. Donny Lambeth, a Forsyth County Republican, said then that he and other budget writers will be taking suggestions for further legislation.
“We’re going to do another COVID bill and we’ll likely do another one after that,” he said. The next COVID-19 relief bill could be proposed later this week or next week.
Relief money for schools
Rep. Dean Arp, a Union County Republican, said the $1.6 billion for schools will include funding for student mental health and catching students up from months of virtual classes.
In a rare floor speech, House Speaker Tim Moore said some of the funds should go toward a “robust summer program” to help students who fell behind. He said he’s particularly concerned about the long-term effects on kids if they can’t learn to read by third grade. “If we don’t get this right ... we’ll be paying for it for decades,” he said.
House Democratic Leader Robert Reives, of Chatham County, called the bill a “fine show of bipartisanship” in which the House, Senate and governor’s office worked together. Cooper voiced support for the funding during a news conference last week.
In addition to new COVID-19 spending bills in the works, Congress might pass even more relief for the states. North Carolina’s two-year state budget process starts this spring. The state revenue forecast is also expected to come out this week.
Another bill on its way to Cooper from the General Assembly would require the state’s public schools to offer an in-person learning option. That bill, Senate Bill 37, passed the Senate and could pass the House this week as well.
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This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 11:14 AM with the headline "NC Gov. Cooper signs COVID-19 relief for schools, vaccine assistance, parent checks."