NC lawmakers unanimously pass $1.7B pandemic relief package in 4 days

House Bill 196 was filed on Monday, and the House passed it Wednesday by a 120-0 vote. On Thursday, the Senate tweaked the measure slightly before voting 48-0 in favor of it, and the House then gave its final sign-off – again unanimously.

The bill is the latest in a series of measures allocating funds appropriated by Congress to the states.

The latest package targets virus testing and prevention, public university campuses, child-care assistance and transportation projects. It also extends deadlines and waivers for several government activities initiated last year due to the pandemic, including some that aren't directly related to it.

For example, one provision alters a 2019 law that gave child sex abuse victims barred by a statute of limitations until the end of 2021 to file lawsuits seeking damages. The bill would extend that window by another year to the end of 2022.

Although they supported the package, Democratic lawmakers complained the bill doesn't go far enough to help people hurt by the pandemic. They failed in their attempts to add bonuses for K-12, university and community college employees and larger and longer unemployment benefits, both paid for with state funds, to the bill.

A Senate budget-writer said last week that educator bonus proposals would be evaluated as part of the conventional legislative budget process between the two chambers.