The NC General Assembly will return to Raleigh next week for a two-day session to consider additional COVID-19 relief for North Carolina communities. North Carolina still has about $900 million in unspent CARES Act funding. Legislators will consider appropriating much of this funding next week for ongoing needs related to the pandemic such as healthcare, childcare, support for schools, and expanded unemployment insurance coverage. If your nonprofit has insights into specific needs in your community (hint: you probably do!), contact your state Senator and Representative today to let them know how they should prioritize the state’s remaining COVID-19 relief funding.

On Wednesday, Governor Roy Cooper released his proposal for the state budget for FY2020-21. Many of the details of the Governor’s recommended budget would be beneficial for nonprofits, including:

Normally, the Governor issues a budget proposal before the beginning of the fiscal year (which started on July 1, 2020), but Governor Cooper chose to wait until August this year in hope that Congress would have agreed on additional federal support for state and local governments in responding to the pandemic. The General Assembly is unlikely to follow many of Governor Cooper’s recommendations if it approves a state budget during next week’s session or later this year, but this proposal could be a significant starting point if legislators ultimately try to negotiate with Governor Cooper on a state budget.

With public schools across North Carolina operating partially or fully remotely (varying by school district) at the start of the school year, many nonprofit employees are finding it necessary to take time off work to manage their children’s education. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires nonprofits and other employees to provide two weeks of paid sick leave and 10 weeks of paid family and medical leave (FMLA) for employees who are unable to work for reasons related to COVID-19. FFCRA also provides refundable payroll tax credits to nonprofits and other employers to cover 100% of the costs of the emergency paid sick leave and emergency FMLA that their employees take during the pandemic. These tax credits ensure that nonprofits don’t bear the cost of necessary paid leave when their employees are out of work due to the pandemic.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued updated guidance with answers to questions about how the FFCRA FMLA applies to parents whose children are engaged in remote learning this fall (see questions 98-100 in the DOL guidance). Notably for nonprofit employees with children in remote learning:

The U.S. Census Bureau is ending its in-person operations on September 30, a month earlier than what the Bureau previously said would be necessary to ensure a complete and accurate count of all Americans in light of the delays stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. September 30 will also be the deadline for households to self-respond to the Census by mail, email, or phone.

A analysis from Carolina Demography provides more details about why an early end to the Census count is particularly problematic in North Carolina. Currently, nearly 40% of North Carolina households still have not replied to the Census, and only 5.3% of North Carolina households have been counted through the Census Bureau’s Non-Response Follow-Up. A massive undercount could cost North Carolina billions of dollars in federal funding for public schools, childcare, health care, affordable housing, food assistance, and many other programs over the next decade. It also could cost North Carolina a 14^th seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the next decade.

The call to action for nonprofit staff, volunteers, and board members is simple: Remind everyone you know to be certain that someone in their household has completed the Census questionnaire. For households that have not yet completed the Census questionnaire, there is still time to respond online, by mail, by phone, or through an in-person visit from a Census Bureau representative.

Nonprofits seeking Job Retention Grants from the NC Department of Commerce must submit their applications by next Tuesday, September 1. The $15 million Job Retention Grant program is open to businesses and nonprofits that: (1) maintained 90% of payroll during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) had at least a 10% reduction in gross receipts from the same period in 2019; and (3) did not receive federal loans through the Paycheck Protection Program or the Main Street Lending Program. The Center worked with legislators to ensure that nonprofits would be eligible for this job retention grant program.

For more information on the Job Retention Grants program, check out FAQs from the NC Department of Commerce and the recording of the informational webinar hosted by the Center earlier this month. The NC Department of Commerce encourages nonprofits to review the required documents and information before beginning the application.

In the past few weeks, the City of Charlotte has used $1 million of its CARES Act funding to provide COVID-19 relief for arts and cultural organizations and Guilford County created a $500,000 relief fund for arts nonprofits. As Arts North Carolina explains, this is not just good news for arts organizations in Charlotte and Guilford County, but potentially for nonprofits throughout the state since all 100 North Carolina counties and many cities have access to CARES Act funding. The Arts North Carolina blog post includes suggestions for ways arts organizations and other nonprofits can advocate for local government officials to use some of this money to provide business interruption grants to support to their organizations during the pandemic.

National Voter Registration Day (September 22) is less than a month away! National Voter Registration Day is a great opportunity for nonprofits to ensure that their staff, volunteers, and community members are registered to vote. Sign up to join the nationwide effort to register hundreds of thousands of voters on September 22. As an official partner, your nonprofit will receive a free voter registration kit and access to other opportunities to support your nonpartisan voter registration work.

Nonprofit VOTE is offering a free webinar next Wednesday, September 2 at 2 p.m. with tips on how your organization can promote your National Voter Registration Day event.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many nonprofits to rethink their plans for in-person voter registration and voter education work this year. To help North Carolina nonprofits navigate the changing landscape of nonpartisan voter registration and voter education, You Can Vote launched its Voting Rights Champion program to provide accurate, easy-to-read, bilingual resources on voter registration and the election process in North Carolina. Become a Voting Rights Champion to get access to free resources and support to ensure that voters in your nonprofit’s community can successfully cast their ballots this fall.

You Can Vote also provides Voter FAQs with clear, accurate, and nonpartisan answers to a variety of common questions about the 2020 election process in North Carolina, including absentee voting by mail (it will be very popular this year), the process for requesting an absentee ballot (it’s best to start the process sooner rather than later!), photo ID (not required this year), and voter fraud (it’s extremely rare). The Center encourages all nonprofits to read these FAQs and share them with their staff, boards, volunteers, and the people they serve.