Even as many businesses try to get forgivable loans to keep their employees at work, others are furloughing or laying off workers because unemployment benefits through July will be much more generous than whatever the business could pay. State law should make room to accommodate federal changes, such as easing the rules on eligibility and...
The John Locke Foundation is leading a national effort to highlight a critical flaw in the $2 trillion federal relief package tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fixing the flaw could help state governments avoid unsustainable budget spending increases. Working with the Nebraska-based Platte Institute, the two organizations drafted a letter to bipartisan congressional leaders. More...
Every level of government has shifted its focus to respond to the spreading coronavirus. Recently, the country watched as both chambers of Congress voted to pass the massive relief package known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act was the third coronavirus response bill passed by Congress. The Coronavirus...
North Carolina’s hospitals asked for $3 billion from Congress’s $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. It remains unclear how much money will make it to North Carolina, but experts say the billions in the CARES Act won’t be the end. Money earmarked for business relief will also flow into the health care...
The U.S. Congress and President Trump are testing whether there are any limits to debt-financed fiscal policy. Already running a $1 trillion deficit, Congress has tripled the deficit with three bills to combat the health and economic effects of the novel coronavirus. The first bill — H.R. 6074 — Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act...
Telemedicine is finally realizing its potential in patients’ homes and hospital rooms across North Carolina. COVID-19 overhauled how hospitals deliver medicine in a matter of days, forcing providers to radically expand telemedicine, sometimes with the help of private companies. But now providers are wondering whether those reforms will last any longer than the virus. Congress...
Gov. Roy Cooper says the state Division of Employment Security is buried under a “mountain of claims,” receiving more than 20,000 requests for Unemployment Insurance benefits Sunday, March 29. By contrast, the agency dealt with about 25,000 claims a month during the Great Recession and is set up to handle about 3,000 claims weekly. But...
