Thread by @APDillon_

Happening now: Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, Subcommittee on Use and Distribution on Federal COVID Funding

Link to the live stream is on the #NCGA website
ncleg.gov

#ncpol

First up: Lee Lilley, NC Pandemic Recovery Office
The name may be familiar.
4 days after the ACP permit was approved, Cooper hired Lilley to be his new legislative director. Lilley was a lobbyist for Dominion, Duke’s partner in the pipeline.
nsjonline.com/article/2019/1… #ncga #ncpol

Cohen was asked to take an oath or affirmation of her testimony today. She takes an affirmation.
#ncga

Interesting bit just now, Sec. Cohen said we took patients from out of state because we had the capacity.
I don't recall her ever saying this during a COVID briefing.
#ncga

Cohen talks about great job hospitals did, great vaccine work and DHHS' focus on 'health equity' work.
#ncga

Cohen: "We held ourselves accountable. I don't think any DHHS secretary was on tv as much as me."
Says that was very important and on purpose.
#ncpol #ncga

Cohen concludes her remarks.
Questions from the committee will now start.
#ncga

Sen. Alexander: Are you still trying to defeat the disease or mitigate/managing its impact.
Cohen makes distinction that we can't eradicate and have known that for over a year now.
"Vaccines are the way out of this pandemic so we can manage it better" #ncga

Sen. Alexander follow up: What is likely timeline for COVID to transition from pandemic to endemic?
Cohen: I don't know that anyone can say that, even experts
Says no statewide mandates & kids in school mean we are living with this virus
#ncga

Cohen says there are potential risks ahead like Omicron variant which is not in NC yet.
We are not universally taking advantage of the tools we have yet.

#ncga

Sen. Johnson: Is the definition of healthy the absence of COVID?
Cohen: That's one part of a definition
Johnson asks what FL and other places are doing better than us.
Cohen says some may say those states learned faster than we did.
#ncga

Cohen said other states had more sophisticated data systems.

Johnson: Why are those other states not under a state of emergency but we are?
Cohen: There are different authorities that diff. states have.
Says NC has different needs that's why we are still under an emergency order.

Cooper's Emer. order is 637 days old today.
#ncga

Cohen says the state of emergency issue is 'very fluid.'
#ncga

Johnson now asking about metrics for reopening last year; phase 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 etc.

Johnson: Once we got through the phases, then we were told we had to vaxxed, then it was teens had to be vaxxed, now it is boosters.
We're over 600 days into this. Where are the goalposts now?

Cohen refers to presentation timeline; we have learned a lot, we know what works. Lists taking away mask mandate as an example of progress.
#ncga

Cohen says that they didn't take steps backwards ( like to a lockdown or masks).
"We will continue to learn as this virus evolves"

Johnson asks for specific milestones to end pandemic.
Cohen says there is no one metric. It's a 'package of metrics' we need to look at.

Cohen says her goal is to get the level of virus down
"We know this is a coronavirus that likes the winter"
She says there is 'risk ahead' for holiday activities

Johnson asks Cohen about Union County.
Says counties/districts given local control, then says the toolkit seems to not really mean local control

Cohen threatened legal action against Union Cty Schools over quaratines/contact tracing
nsjonline.com/article/2021/0…

Johnson: Is the toolkit a recommendation, a law or simply a suggestion?
Cohen dodges the question, goes into description of quarantine as a last resort.

Cohen's threat to Union County exposed the issues with the toolkit & quarantine guidance.
nsjonline.com/article/2021/0…

Johnson says Union has been mask optional all year, Wake county masked all year, last week the positivity rate was .28 and Wake is .23
Cohen interrupts, says last week Union County had 174 cases per 100k, a 10% rate
Union county is not doing as well, they aren't using the tools

Johnson says he is using the Student rate, while Cohen is using the County pop. rate.

This has been a big bone of contention, NCDHHS has repeatedly told Ed officials schools are not spread sites.

Johnson presses Cohen about quarantines. We're sending home likely healthy kids to be with family and grandparents.

Cohen says that if folks are vaxxed and wearing masks that shouldn't happen

Johnson: What is the logic behind being able to test negative on day 5 but not return to school on day 7?
Cohen: We gotta use the tools we know work. Tests only ID if you have it or not.
Tools of vaccination and masks are what we need to focus on.

She did NOT answer the Q.

Question about Omicron, what should we know>
Cohen: early data shows it is more contagious, very concerning. Data also shows it is not as severe.
How well will our immunities hold up is a Q.

Question about why labor market is struggling.
Sanders says number of factors are involved, says tight labor market was pre-pandemic, lower birth rate, lower immigration into the country are all factors
People are choosing diff. careers and that is impacting jobs

Final Q from Quick goes to Lilley - Affordable high-speed internet, how does access breakdown?
Lilley: Short answer is majority who lack access are in rural areas. We are most rural state in US.

Lilley said key component is 'affordable' access.
Says Gov. Cooper has called for more investment there.

Lilley says more needs to be done to expand telehealth.
$60M has already been spent

Rep. Erin Pare of Wake asks Cohen about the Science and Data driving policy decisions. This morning you said there were challenges with data, NC has been one of the slowest states to give CDC death data.

Pare asks Cohen to speak on the tendency of health officials to overstate the reliability of the data when making pronouncements.

Cohen said she never used death data during briefings because of the 'lag' in that data.

Cohen: we built up our data capacity, we are moving to electronic reporting in Jan. 2022.
We didn't have that early in the pandemic.

Cohen says they won 'many awards' for their data collection. Says it was manual in the beginning and she feels good about the quality and accuracy.

Cohen said they are now getting death data within a week.

Just a reminder here - over 20 news outlets sued for death certificate info last year. That case has not been resolved yet.

Pare: How do we get over that hurdle of people having confidence in the 'science and data' and the recommendations coming from that?

Cohen: There were things we didn't know, how strong, how it was spread. What I tried to do was be clear about what we did know, what metrics we were looking at etc.

Cohen: It takes time for us to learn lessons about COVID, we try not to overstate what we don't know

Pare asks Cohen to clarify hospitalizations, worry about capacity early on. It wasn't as bad as it could be, you said we brought in patients from out of state.... people were told not to seek elective procedures due to capacity
1/2

Pare: If you are bringing in ppl from other states, you have to consider that forcing ppl to put off elective surgeries has created other problems. How do you reconcile that?

Cohen: This is just a matter of timing.
The only time we asked hospitals to put off procedures was in the beginning. We were not taking patients from out of state at that time.

Earlier, Cohen did say NC took out of state patients.

No one has yet asked Cohen when the masks come off of kids in schools. The community doesn't have to be masked, but the kids do?

Cohen doesn't say when NC accepted out of state patients.
Pare asks if there are numbers to quantify the outcome of asking ppl to put off elective treatments.

Cohen doesn't have numbers, but says hospitals caught up and they would be able to answer better.
Goes back to saying COVID has been the highest cause of death.

Pare asks about 'underinvestment' in public health, lists the biggest areas of spending of public health.
What is the function of public health and what should be the core spending?

Cohen says the areas Pare listed are mainly federal dollars. Says she needs to look into this issue more, what areas need more investment. Early surveillance is an area she mentions.

Cohen says we need to 'cross train' people in order to respond to public health issues.

Note: NCDHHS has made 'health equity' their top priority.

nsjonline.com/article/2021/1…

Pare goes back to schools - long list of criteria that could be considered covid. If kids are wearing a mask & are possibly exposed there is no need to quarantine?

Cohen: If they are exposed to a documented case of COVID, within 6 ft, if they wore a mask that is not considered exposure. If they were vaxxed, that is not considered exposure.

Cohen says those exposures and having had covid in the last 90 days should keep a student from quarantining.

Note: Schools - even those masked - are seemingly ignoring these exemptions and quarantining kids anyway

Pare says quarantining kids in this way is actually putting them at more risk

Cohen says unvaxxed kids around unvaxxed kids is a risk

Pare asks Sanders about being 'fully reopened' and says a lot of biz owners would beg to differ. They can't hire the people they need. Impact of hiring issues is crippling.

Pare to Sanders: How do we get the people they need to hire back into the market? Do we have any data for the forced temp. closure of non-essential biz that ended up being permanent closures? How many are minority or female owned?

Sanders on 1st Q about hiring: Companies can reopen and I understand the staffing challenges they are encountering.
Says the num. 1 way to get back to biz is to get employees vaccinated

Sanders on Q 2, she "will have to get back to you" on that data, but then says women owned and minority biz have been greatly impacted.

Lilley jumps in and says 'essential biz' labels were first done by the Fed. govt. NC Gov. Cooper made additions.

Lilley repeats labor market was down even pre-pandemic.

Lilley said working moms are having a harder time getting back into workforce than dads; likely issues of child care involved due to pandemic

Pare wants definition of 'essential biz' clarified
Lilley said list was from feds
Pare asks what was deemed in NC as essential was a diff. list?
Lilley says some in NC were

Pare says her own family's biz was deemed essential but a minority owned biz next door to theirs wasn't. They had to shut down permanently and it was 'heartbreaking.'

Pare notes that NC's fiscal leadship helped the state weather the storm.
"That is a good story to tell."

The hearing is taking a quick break now.

Sen. Kraweic to Lilley: We've been under a state of emergency for over a year. She gives definition of emergency. Asks him 'does the admin have a roadmap for how we get to some normalcy? Is it publicly available?

Lilley says yes - get vaxxed is part of it.
What state of emergency does is give the gov. tools to deliver recovery and relief quickly.

Lilley: State of Emergency unlocks tools - names vaccine administration.

This is the first time we are hearing vaccine admin is a reason for Cooper's 637 day old emergency order.

Cooper has not answered our questions or those of lawmakers about his state of emergency.

nsjonline.com/article/2021/0…

Kraweic follow up on prioritization of COVID fund spending.
Lilley: Fed decided a few of the big payments, where the state has discretion we worked with NCGA

Kraweic asks if NC and CDC/fed benchmarks are the same or similar.
Lilley says yes & right now NC is focused on vax distribution.

Sen. Ballard: For the records is the toolkit a recommendation, a law or suggestion?

Cohen: we wrote the guidelines, the districts implement them. I need to consult a lawyer on how they interpret them.

Ballard: What is your understanding of how the districts are interpreting your toolkit?
Ballard says districts are using quarantining as a first resort rather than a last resort.

Cohen: Toolkit is clear on who is exempted and who is not.
Exposures happen, our youngest kids up until a few weeks ago couldn't get vaxxed.

Cohen calls quarantine a last resort that should be used in a specific strategic way.

Ballard asks if 100% of kids get vaxxed, does that mean our schools are safe?

Cohen: We have to do better than were we are now. It is early on. 15% of 5-11 YOs are vaxxed, that is "not enough by any measure."

Cohen says as time goes on and higher vaxxed rates prevail, maybe things change.

Ballard: So will the toolkit cease to exist?

Cohen: I hope so. We we learn and modify as we go.

Ballard: What's the difference between a restaurant table and school lunch table?

Cohen: I hear this alot.
If you are inside unmasked for a period of time there can be exposure; there is a choice not to go to a restaurant. It is impt to keep kids in school.

Note: Cohen still did not answer if the toolkit is a recommendation, law or suggestion.

Ballard: What is the diff between a 4 YO in daycare and 5 YO in a public school kindergarten?

Cohen says if you are 4 YO or 5 YO there is not that much difference; I think we've done the best we can to keep our kids safe.

Ballard: As we move forward and don't take step back, are we still considering statewide school or biz closures?

Cohen says we didn't do that during Delta surge.
"That could change. I want to say that out loud."

Rep. Arp has 1 Q's
1 to Cohen: Have you asked for more deregulation for healthcare workers (to assist in pandemic work)

Cohen says they've worked with the NCGA on bills to let pharmacists give vaccines and let people visit loved ones in nursing homes & hospitals.

Arp follows up - Why would there need to be a state of emergency order for standing orders?

Cohen refers to monoclonal antibody administration and access.

This is the first time we are hearing this.

Arp to Sanders/Lilley about labor participation rate.
Biz can't find employees that meet demand for production & that until we get employment back up we are on the precipice of another recession.

Arp asks what the Gov. is doing to remove barriers to get employment rates back up?
We have no trajectory coming back.

Sanders: Within agency we are focused on workforce development and understanding needs. We need to invest in Workforce development.
Mentions My Future NC.

Arp to Sanders: Where have the workers gone?
Are they staying out? Training?
What is the timeline on your initiatives...

Sanders: There is no simple answer to what happened to all the workers.

Sanders says there is evidence of returning to school, changing careers, starting new biz, staying at home with family.

She does not mention that a good number of people who died from COVID were employed before they died and that has some impact.

Sanders goes back to "low birth rates" and "low immigration rate" as "just as impactful" as the pandemic has been.

Arp asks Sanders to translate her percentages into numbers of workers and again asks for her timeline on initiatives.

Rep. Torbett: Knowing what we know now, what would you do differently today treating our most vulnerable citizens?

Cohen: This has been incredibly, incredibly hard on our elderly with underlying medical conditions.

The video stream appears to have cut out.
Hang on folks.

Um, no, it hasn't concluded.

It appears the stream for this committee has been reset for tomorrow's event, based on the page at the moment.