A bill making its way through the North Carolina General Assembly could do away with the $300 a week in extra federal unemployment benefits in the state.

Republican lawmakers say ending the extra benefits will get people back to work. Many employers in North Carolina have said they are having trouble finding enough workers.

The state house passed the Putting North Carolina Back to Work Act last week, and the senate will take it up soon. But Gov. Roy Cooper has made it clear in recent weeks that he supports the extra benefits.

The latest version of the bill, S116, essentially says the state Department of Employment Security is not allowed to distribute money from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. The program currently gives an extra $300 a week to anyone receiving unemployment benefits and is set to expire on September 6.

If the bill passes, the extra money people are getting each week would stop after 30 days.

The bill also includes two tax deductions. The first allows people and companies to deduct expenses from loans forgiven under the federal Paycheck Protection Program. This follows a similar change in the federal tax code.

The PPP made forgivable loans to companies around the country to keep paying workers during the pandemic shutdowns over the past year-plus.

The second tax deduction is for $10,200 people received in unemployment benefits last year.

The version passed last week by the state House also includes $250 million for subsidized child care. The money comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and will go through the Department of Health and Human Services.

As of last week, about 240,000 people were getting unemployment benefits in North Carolina, the Associated Press reports. But it’s not clear how many of those were getting extra money each week through the federal program.

Without the $300 a week bump from federal coronavirus relief funding, the average unemployment benefit in North Carolina is about $235 a week.

Another big change to unemployment started Monday, requiring anyone who is getting benefits to look for a job. The governor had suspended the job search requirement during the pandemic.

“Unemployment benefits have provided a critical lifeline for many North Carolinians living on the edge due to the pandemic,” the governor said when he signed the order in May. 

“Reinstating the work search guidelines will help connect claimants with employers, resources and tools to help them return to the workforce,” Cooper said in a statement.

The bill has wide support with Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly, who control both the state House and Senate.

The bill passed the North Carolina House of Representatives 71 to 36, with seven Democrats joining the Republicans. No Republicans voted against the bill.

In recent weeks, 25 states have decided to cut off the federal unemployment benefits early, according to the AP. Those states include South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.

It’s not clear what North Carolina’s governor would do with the bill, but he’s made it clear that he supports the extra unemployment benefits.

North Carolina’s two Republican U.S. Senators called on Cooper to end the extra federal benefits in a joint statement late last month.

“The employment shortage caused by exorbitant federal unemployment benefits is a real and serious threat to North Carolina’s recovery,” Senators Thom Tillis and Richard Burr said in the joint statement.

“Over the last several weeks, we’ve heard from countless small, mid, and large-sized business owners across North Carolina struggling to hire enough workers to reopen this summer. Employers, particularly in hard-hit industries like tourism, service, and hospitality, are finding they can’t compete with excessive federal benefits,” the senators said.

Responding to Burr and Tillis, the governor said, “North Carolina has among the stingiest and shortest unemployment benefits in the country, and many families are dealing with issues, such as lack of affordable child care and finding jobs with livable wages.”

The governor's office wouldn't say what Cooper will do with the bill if it lands on his desk. In a statement to Spectrum News 1, spokesman Ford Porter said, "Governor Cooper wants to get North Carolinians working and his executive order has reinstituted work search requirements for those receiving unemployment benefits. He wants to help small businesses and particularly the hospitality industry strengthen their workforce with direct financial help within the bounds of the law and badly needed childcare for their employees."

Cooper could potentially veto the bill, leaving the ball with the Republicans in the state House and Senate to get the three-fifths majority to override the veto.