NC governor unveils COVID relief budget, including bonuses for teachers, college staff
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper laid out his budget recommendations for coronavirus relief spending Thursday, continuing efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 with an eye to recovery for businesses and residents.
That includes one-time bonuses of $2,500 for teachers and principals, $1,500 for non-certified school personnel in public K-12 schools and $2,000 for workers in the state’s community colleges and the UNC system, Cooper said.
“These teachers and school personnel are the only state employees who did not get raises the last two years, and we need this boost to help keep them on board and reward their hard work,” Cooper said at a press conference.
The amount of teacher raises, along with Medicaid expansion, were at the center of the 2019 state budget battle between Cooper and the General Assembly. In the end, neither side agreed on the amount and teachers did not get raises in 2019. Teachers received $350 bonuses and step-raises this past fall, after Cooper signed a bill over the summer.
Cooper’s budget priorities for allocating federal funding come as the Republican-led General Assembly already has passed one COVID-19 relief bill with a second one expected to roll out within the next week. Some of Cooper’s proposals overlap with legislation already on his desk. He also proposed spending some state money for the educator bonuses.
State Budget Director Charlie Perusse, who is part of Cooper’s administration, told reporters that federal guidelines don’t allow the federal money to be spent on the bonuses.
Perusse said the state’s revenue forecast should be out by the end of next week.
The first COVID-19 bill passed in 2021 that now awaits Cooper’s signature includes broadband internet expansion funding, $95 million for vaccine distribution and $1.6 billion to help schools reopen safely. It also extends the application deadline for parents who didn’t get $335 checks this past fall.
Senate leader Phil Berger’s spokesperson Lauren Horsch said that bonuses are addressed in the “normal state budget process” after the revenue forecast. They need to ensure funds are available before making decisions, she said.
Also on Thursday, a majority of the Senate backed a bill to require schools to offer an in-person learning option. That bill still needs a final Senate vote next week, then goes to the House.
Cooper’s budget proposal
Here is Cooper’s proposal, according to a news release:
▪ “About $2 billion for emergency assistance for public and private K-12 schools and higher education institutions.
▪ “$336 million for childcare and development block grants.
▪ “About $700 million for coronavirus vaccine access and testing, tracing and other prevention strategies to slow the spread of the virus.
▪ “$546 million for emergency rental assistance.
▪ “$258 million for highway infrastructure and $65 million for airports.
▪ “$47 million for community mental health services.
▪ “Funding for food assistance programs, including SNAP and school nutrition.
▪ “$468 million for bonuses for educators and school personnel in public K-12 schools, community colleges and the university system.”
Update to NC alert system
Thursday’s press conference included an update of the state’s county alert system, which uses COVID-19 case rates in counties, in addition to test positivity rates and the impact to local hospitals to gauge how the virus is spreading through communities.
There are now 61 counties labeled as red, or having critical community spread. That’s down from 86 counties on Jan. 21.
“For the first time since we started this report back in November, our trends moved in a positive direction,” said Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, at Thursday’s press conference.
There are 33 counties labeled as orange, or having “substantial community spread,” the second-highest category. Only six are in the yellow, or “significant community spread,” category.
“There is still a lot of work ahead of us,” Cohen said, emphasizing the continued importance of wearing masks and following other public health safety measures.
While COVID-19 cases have decreased from the post-holiday highs of January, North Carolina reported 169 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, the highest single day total since March, The News & Observer reported. Last month was the deadliest month of the pandemic as the state reported 2,587 deaths, or just over 26% of all deaths so far.
The state reported 150 deaths Thursday. There have been 781,802 coronavirus cases since March.
Vaccine update
The Biden Administration announced it will launch the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program next week, with 31,200 doses coming to Walgreens locations in North Carolina. Those doses will be in addition to the state’s typical allocation of about 150,000 doses per week, Cohen told a North Carolina House committee Thursday.
“I do see vaccine supply improving. I think the thing I don’t know is the timing of it,” Cohen told the House Health committee.
She reiterated comments that she has mentioned to other state officials this week — that the emergency use approval of a third vaccine, in addition to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna options, could hasten rollout.
North Carolina has administered 868,521 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 208,753 second doses, as of the end of Wednesday.
In an effort to determine when North Carolina should allow Group 3, or frontline essential workers, to seek the vaccine, Cohen said DHHS has surveyed providers to learn of the need for vaccine for people who are at least 65 years old.
“There is still so much demand from the the current group that we are in,” Cohen said, “so I think it’s going to be a few weeks until we’re able to move forward to our frontline essential workers.”
DHHS describes frontline essential workers as people who have public-facing jobs. Cohen also said there are no plans to prioritize certain types of workers within Group 3, such as teachers. She also cautioned that Group 3 is a large one, with all teachers, public safety personnel and agricultural workers, among others.
“The supply is very low, so we’re not going to get to everyone the first day,” Cohen said.
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 3:23 PM.