Written by Alison Miller

The North Carolina General Assembly convened last week for a short budgetary session focused on allocating $1.1 billion in remaining COVID-19 relief funds provided to the state through the federal CARES Act (S. 3548). The Coronavirus Relief Act 3.0 (House Bill 1105), which passed with strong bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House, was subsequently signed into law by Governor Roy Cooper on September 4.

The Coronavirus Relief Act 3.0 allocates $440 million to provide each North Carolina household with at least one child under age 17 with a one-time $335 stimulus check by December 15. It also allocates $87 million to provide an additional $50 per week from September through December to North Carolinians receiving unemployment assistance. Other provisions in the bill include:

COVID-19 Research

• $17 million to the Duke University Human Vaccine Institute to develop a safe, effective vaccine and rapid, low-cost testing for active infections
• $9 million to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for the Bioinformatics Research Center, including $4 million to support the development and analysis of viral and epidemiological data

Health Care

• $38 million to the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services to distribute among LME/MCOs
• $25 million to the North Carolina Medical Society to ensure access to medical care for North Carolinians by supporting independent medical practices with demonstrable COVID-19-related needs
• $23 million to the Office of State Budget and Management to allocate to the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association, the North Carolina Senior Living Association, and the North Carolina Assisted Living Association
• $20 million to the NC Department of Health and Human Services to establish the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund

Educational and Social Support

• $35 million to the NC DHHS’s Division of Child Development and Early Education to provide operational grants to licensed child care providers
• $30 million to the Department of Information Technology to use for the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (G.R.E.A.T) Fund
• $25 million to the Board of Governors to transition eligible private college and university students to online education and support students and their families impacted by the pandemic
• $21 million to the Department of Public Instruction to improve internet connectivity for K-12 students by providing community and home mobile access points

Disaster Recovery

• $44.5 million for hurricane-related response efforts, including $27.8 million for the Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Fund
• $24 million for the Earthquake Disaster Recovery Fund

While Governor Cooper expressed that North Carolina legislators should have included additional provisions to “expand Medicaid, support small businesses, pay our educators, assist with rent and utilities relief and further help unemployed North Carolinians,” he said the funding outlined in the Coronavirus Relief Act 3.0 is “critical and must move forward.”

See more COVID legislation analysis here.