RALEIGH — Both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly unanimously passed a second round of Hurricane Helene relief funding on Oct. 24.
Senate Bill 743, retitled “The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 — Part II,” contains more than $644 million for Helene relief and will draw from the state’s Savings Reserve, also known as the Rainy Day Fund.
North Carolina’s State Emergency and Disaster Relief Fund has nearly $733 million available, and the state’s Savings Reserve has more than $4.75 billion.
The first round of funding, $278 million, was approved earlier this month in House Bill 149. Combined with the second round, total relief funding thus far is more than $922 million.
“As North Carolina continues to recover from the devastation caused by Helene, the North Carolina House of Representatives remains committed to ensuring the people of Western North Carolina have what they need to rebuild and recover,” House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) said in a statement. “We stand with our neighbors and will see this recovery through to the end.”
Top-line funding items in the second round of aid include: $100 million to the Local Government Commission for local government use; $100 million to the Department of Environmental Quality for water/ wastewater infrastructure issues; $50 million to state agencies and local governments for unmet needs not covered by insurance or available federal aid; $30 million for mental health services; $10 million for child care facilities; and $10 million for child care facilities.
K-12 education items include $50 million for uninsured and non-FEMA reimbursable expenses for school building repairs and renovations and $5 million to replace/repair K-12 technology and devices.
For postsecondary institutions, $10.5 million is set aside for emergency scholarship grants for students at impacted community colleges, $5 million for UNC System schools ($5 million), and $1 million for private colleges. Eligible students at the school outlined in the relief package will be able to receive a scholarship grant of up to $2,500.
Another $5.5 million is included for UNC Asheville to cover spring 2025 semester tuition for eligible students. Similarly, there is $5 million to cover spring 2025 tuition for students at specified community colleges and trade schools in the affected region.
Also in the second round of relief funds are:
• $50 million to Golden LEAF for small business loans
• $10 million to provide weatherization services to homeowners impacted by Hurricane Helene
• $5 million to Emergency Management to adjust floodplain mapping in western North Carolina
• $9 million for utility assistance to individuals impacted by Hurricane Helene
• $10 million to Smart Start to help child care providers reopen their facilities
• $3 million to support children in foster care and children in child protective services
• $5 million to the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina to encourage the return of tourism in the impacted areas
• $500,000 for anticipated additional Line of Duty Death claims
The second round of relief funding also includes $10 million for state and local match for Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 (PTC-8) and Tropical Storm Debby.
The day prior, Gov. Roy Cooper proposed an overall package totaling $3.9 billion.
On pages 98 and 99 of Cooper’s 99-page proposal are $175 million in additional budgetary funds for the Cooper-established Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), as well a request for $200 million for “remaining” Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence needs.
The legislature noticed the request, and Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) issued a press release criticizing Cooper over the “last minute” request as a “financial catastrophe” that is a “direct result of top-down mismanagement” from the agency.
Berger also said he “looks forward to GovOps getting to the bottom of this astounding failure.”
“The lack of preparation from the state’s executive branch leading up to Hurricane Helene and absence of immediate action thereafter has left Western North Carolina in a more difficult position than it needed to be,” said Berger in a press release following the passage of the second round of funding.
“This will be a long recovery, and the legislature will not lose sight of rebuilding the region and fixing the damage,” said Berger. “Our second relief package puts the General Assembly’s total commitment so far at almost $900 million, and that will only grow as we continue to evaluate and repair the damage.”
Cooper did not get his full ask for NCORR. Lawmakers included $30 million in the second round of Helene relief to keep the agency operating after Senate Republicans noted NCORR had “blown through its entire budget of $650 million.”
Both chambers also passed a conference report to Senate Bill 132, which requires 13 county boards of elections in the impacted areas to open at least one early voting site for every 30,000 registered voters. Two counties of concern were McDowell and Henderson, each currently having one site.
The Senate passed Senate Bill 132 unanimously. The House passed the bill 106-2; the votes against came from Democratic Reps. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) and Rep. Abe Jones (D-Wake). Neither of the two Democrats represents any of the counties covered under the bill.
During House debate on the early voting measure, various Democrats questioned the need for more sites, the burden it might place on local boards of election and questioned the cost to those local boards as well as the ability to staff additional locations.
After back and forth between multiple Democrats and the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jennifer Balkcom (R-Henderson), whose county was impacted by Helene, Rep. Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) addressed the concerns.
Hall said the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) was granted $5 million dollars in House Bill 149 for this purpose, more than twice the $2 million it had requested.
Hall pointed out the significant disparity in voter-to-site ratios across counties with some having one site per 5,000 registered voters and Henderson County having just one site for 90,000 registered voters when it used to have four.
Hall said the bill was just adding voting sites based on a benchmark of 30,000 registered voters, which ensures more equitable access to voting sites and prevents voters from having to wait two to three hours at single polling locations.
“I would urge you to support this very simple bill that has been more than fully funded at this point to make sure everybody there has the ability to vote,” Hall said in closing.
“If it’s going to make it easy, let’s do it,” Rep. Carla Cunningham (D-Mecklenburg) said after Hall finished. “You know, let’s do the right thing and this is the right thing. If they need more and we’ve already done what they need, let’s do it and move on.”
