Cooper Reluctantly Signs Coronavirus Relief Bill

RALEIGH – As it turns out, there are limits to the political posturing of Governor Roy Cooper. After a bipartisan passage, Cooper has signed a nearly $1.1 billion bill aimed at providing coronavirus-related relief.  The bill contains some provisions that Cooper directly opposes, like the Opportunity Scholarship program, but his decision to swallow those objections and sign the bill are undoubtedly nothing more than political caution at vetoing other parts of the bill.

Governor Cooper signed House Bill 1105 into law. while still complaining about some part of the bill that commit the egregious sin of expanding educational choice for North Carolina’s children.

“Obviously I don’t agree with every provision, but the funding for pandemic support in this budget is critical and must move forward,” Cooper said in a press release.

The new law directs $335 payments to families with at least one school age child, to help make up for unanticipated costs of school closures and scrambles, but it also expands the Opportunity Scholarship program in a win for school choice.

But a Democrat isn’t going to stand in the way of handing out money to people. Especially when that Democrat is the primary reason the school parents are hurting anyway.

The biggest complaints from Cooper and Democrats were familiar ones — the spending bill didn’t include Medicaid expansion and more money for teacher bonuses. Mind you, Cooper has vetoed every teacher raise that’s come his way, on account that it ‘wasn’t good enough.’

The more things change…..