Gov. Cooper Excludes Unemployment Benefits from Council of State Agenda

Raleigh, N.C. — Yesterday, Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration sent out an agenda for a special meeting of statewide elected officials, called the Council of State, to discuss the pandemic response.

Missing from the meeting agenda is any discussion about unemployment assistance, even as the Cooper Administration hasn’t paid hundreds of thousands of claims for people prohibited from working.

There is not even any mention of attendance from any Cooper Administration official responsible for executing the unemployment assistance program.

Earlier this week, the Charlotte Observer Editorial Board took Gov. Cooper to task for passing off blame on his own administration’s failures, writing, “The governor needs to own this problem, address it, and fix it.”

Senator Andy Wells (R-Catawba), who chairs the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Unemployment Insurance, said, “Gov. Cooper is passing off blame about his mishandling of unemployment checks instead of owning it. He needs to tackle the issue head-on instead of ignoring it in top-level meetings.

“Surely Gov. Cooper knew, when he issued his orders, that hundreds of thousands of people would be put out of work, yet this week’s hearing revealed he barely gave notice to his own unemployment assistance team.”