Gov. Roy Cooper’s Department of Revenue did not do enough to get “Extra Credit” grants to low-income families eligible for them, a new audit finds.
The General Assembly created the grant program in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, using federal dollars to give families $335 to use for virtual schooling and child care.
Roughly $366 million was distributed to 1.1 million families who qualified automatically because they filed a tax return for 2019. Another $8.2 million was sent to 25,000 families who applied for the payment with the Department of Revenue.
But the audit from State Auditor Beth Wood found that the Cooper administration failed to take several steps that would have helped low-income families.