Weekly Wrap: Reopening schools, vaccinating teachers, budget forecast

As lawmakers continue to press for reopening schools amid the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Roy Cooper had some welcome news for teachers this week.

A bill that would require school districts to offer in-person classes to any student who wants them is one vote away from heading to Cooper's desk. He hasn't said whether he would veto it, but he has said that the reopening decision should be left to local officials.

At the same time, however, Cooper has urged districts to get as many students back into classrooms as possible, and he has moved teachers up in the state's priority list for vaccinations, ahead of police officers, firefighters and other "essential" workers.

The governor also signed the first bill lawmakers sent him, a massive pandemic relief package that doles out federal money to schools, vaccination programs, rental assistance and broadband expansion.

Cooper named Machelle Sanders, his secretary of the Department of Administration, to head the Department of Commerce, replacing Tony Copeland, who left after the governor's first term ended. Sanders is the first Black woman to head Commerce.

It's the second time he's shifted one cabinet secretary to an opening in another agency. Now he must back-fill the Administration position, and he still has to name a secretary at the Department of Environmental Quality after Michael Regan left to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Finally, the state's budget doesn't appear to be in as bad shape as many feared during the early weeks of the pandemic, when lawmakers feared a $5 billion deficit. The consensus revenue forecast was issued this week shows a fairly normal budget year, with about $27.4 billion to work with in the state's general fund, as well as about $4 billion in reserves.