A bill that could help unemployed North Carolinians amid the COVID-19 pandemic is on its way to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk.
House Bill 1229 directs $2 million to fight unemployment fraud, and it authorizes the state to apply for a federal waiver that allows nondisabled adults to continue to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The measure received unanimous support from both chambers of the General Assembly.
HB 1229 would use federal coronavirus relief aid to finance a contract between the state’s Division of Employment Security (DES) and the Government Data Analytics Center (GDAC) to increase cybersecurity and data monitoring.
It also authorizes the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to apply for a federal waiver that allows people between 18 and 49 years old, with no dependents or disabilities, to receive food stamps for more than three months in a 36-month period.
The North Carolina waiver would apply from April 1 through the end of the federal public health emergency declaration. Time-limit waivers usually last for 12 months, according to law.
The measure also would allow North Carolinians who are seasonally employed at polling precincts to continue receiving unemployment benefits.
Between March 15 and Wednesday, more than 1 million people in North Carolina filed for unemployment benefits. About 20 percent of claimants did not meet the eligibility requirements.
