Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses several interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. Here’s this week’s review:
Prison death: COVID-19 has claimed its first victim at a North Carolina prison. An inmate at Pender Correctional Institution in Burgaw died this week of complications associated with COVID-19. The inmate was in his 50s and had an underlying medical condition. The Department of Public Safety has tested 723 inmates at its prisons and received 444 positive results, the News & Observer reported.
Nurses Association: The N.C. Nurses Association is pushing back against calls to reopen the state. While groups like ReopenNC want to ease restrictions and let people go back to work, the NCNA doesn’t think the time is right to lift stay-at-home orders. “We know that social distancing is working, but relaxing North Carolina’s stay-at-home order at this point could be counterproductive,” said NCNA CEO Tina Gordon in a news release. “The last thing we want is to open up too soon, see another spike in cases, and have to reissue another stay-at-home order.” The state needs to reach three goals before reopening can be considered, NCNA said. The goals include a consistent drop in cases over two weeks, a reliable supply of personal protective equipment and access to testing, and the ability to sufficiently contract trace.
Public Policy Polling: A new poll from the left-leaning Public Policy Polling found 52% of North Carolinians believe current social distancing efforts are sufficient, while only 16% believe they should be relaxed. The remaining 28% think more aggressive measures are needed. Nearly 70% of respondents oppose the protests calling for an immediate lift in restrictions, while only 19% support the protests. Public Policy Polling surveyed 1,275 North Carolina voters from April 20-21. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.7%.
Food help: The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide North Carolina with federal money through the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer program to help low-income families with school-age children buy food. North Carolina is among the first four states approved by the federal government to participate in the program. Families whose children are eligible for free or reduced school lunches will receive $250 in benefits per child on their EBT card. The benefits will come in two installments. Families who qualify but aren’t enrolled in Food and Nutrition Services will get a card in the mail. Families may potentially receive more benefits if schools are closed beyond May 15, a news release from Gov. Roy Cooper said. “The P-EBT program will provide extra help buying groceries for the families of the more than 800,000 children who normally receive free and reduced lunch at school,” said N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen.
Frederick Douglass Leadership Institute: The Frederick Douglass Foundation of NC and Douglass Leadership Institute Economic Task Force on the Coronavirus have ideas on how to help minority communities harmed by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Frederick Douglass Foundation is a national education and public policy organization promoting free markets and limited government via chapters across the country. Recommendations include targeted funding for community organizations and banks in urban and rural communities so they can provide grants and loans, as well as more support for churches and charity organizations to provide food assistance and job training. “With record numbers of black people having to apply for unemployment benefits and our businesses being shut down for no fault of their own, we have to support them,” said Clarence Henderson, president of the Frederick Douglass Foundation of North Carolina. “It is time for the General Assembly now to help people with a step up so that we don’t have to give them a handout later.”
Front-line worker protection: House Democratic leader Rep. Darren Jackson, D-Wake, wants stronger protections for the front-line workers in the COVID-19 battle. When lawmakers return on April 28 for the short session, Jackson will introduce legislation to make it easier for first responders, health care workers, and essential workers to receive workers compensation if they contract COVID-19. The bill would create a rebuttable presumption that these workers contracted the virus while on the job, a news release from Jackson said. “If a police officer, nurse, grocery store clerk, or other front-line worker contracts COVID-19 and suffers serious injury, he or she deserves the protections of our workers compensation safety net,” Jackson said.