Foothills Review

State House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) recently spoke about North Carolina’s unemployment rate and the ongoing response to the multi-part crisis faced in light of COVID-19 developments.

Moore appeared by phone on 103.7 FM’s ‘Talk of the Town’ in eastern North Carolina, where he touched on emergency efforts by the state government to assist families, businesses and healthcare.

Moore defended the restrictions placed on restaurants and bars, according to the report. Public health officials said large gatherings needed to be prevented, and many establishments were already closing in response to health concerns, he said.

At the state level, Moore said officials recognize a negative impact on business is now unavoidable, and the General Assembly is looking for ways to assist affected businesses, according to the report. They have also addressed the length of time people have to wait to receive unemployment insurance and made certain employers aren’t penalized by the need of employees to use it during the current crisis.

With approximately $3.5 in the state’s unemployment trust fund, North Carolina is equipped to weather the current situation, he said, according to the report. “We have prepared, we have saved, we have done things we needed to do to make sure that we have the funds there to take care of our workers,” he said.

Moore said that he has encouraged Gov. Roy Cooper to consider pushing back any state deadlines that may make life difficult for citizens during the crisis.

In handling any measures, working together and placing partisan divisions aside is essential, Moore said. “And we’re doing that.”

Moore also said that the General Assembly is prepared to accommodate coronavirus restrictions if they are still in place when the General Assembly reconvenes in May.

The state also has $1.17 billion in savings, $74 million in disaster relief Funds, $186 million in Medicaid contingency reserves, and over $2 billion in unappropriated cash-on-hand, he said.