Questions raised from Disaster Relief Committee members on why special session is just now happening
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) – On the second day of Tennessee's Special Called Meeting, the Disaster Relief Committee met and pushed through three bills. However, many committee members raised concerns about why this special session took months to happen.
Local county mayors talked in front of committee members about Hurricane Helene's impact on their counties, including the extensive amount it will cost for repairs and rebuilds.
Carter, Greene, Johnson and Unicoi County mayors all shared on the Tennessee house floor Tuesday.
Disaster relief bills pass first stage of legislative session
Many representatives agreed that funding is needed for relief and as soon as possible.
Rep. Joe Towns Jr. from Memphis asked TEMA representatives if there was a way funding could get to these counties sooner.
'We got to get the money to the people in order for them to rectify the situation as good as we possibly can,' Towns said. 'So reimbursement and I'd love for you to address, what about we change the reimbursement process and gave them the money upfront?'
Rep. Jody Barret from Dickson feels like the weight of paying the state back for repairs is too much for Northeast Tennessee counties.
'Four or five county mayors that are essentially telling us that their counties are bankrupt or going to be bankrupt as a result of this, so the state putting any obligation on them to pay some portion of this recovery seems asinine,' Barrett said. 'We're asking them to do an impossible task to pay something that they don't have the money to pay for.'
Some representatives questioned why a special session for relief is just now taking place four months after Hurricane Helene.
'Why has there not been a special session called already?' asked Representative Todd Warner from Chapel Hill.
Rep. Bo Mitchell expressed his disappointment in Governor Bill Lee's decision to wait until January. He voiced his displeasure with knowing those who are unemployed because of Helene have to file regular unemployment requirements weekly.
'These people for four months now have been having to jump through all the hoops and hurdles of applying for five jobs each week and doing all that to be able to get unemployment for jobs that have been washed away,' Mitchell said.
'This is another reason the governor should be ashamed of himself for waiting four months to help these people [who] have been homeless, jobless and in this dire situation,' Mitchell said. 'North Carolina has done this three times, given three rounds of aid. This governor has waited this long and these people have been having to jump through this kind of bureaucratic hoops. Governor, you should be ashamed of yourself. We've waited and waited and waited. You know, 'til I guess he's got enough folks in line for other things to call the special session to help these people.'
Representative Jeremy Faison from Cosby said he actually does feel like Tennessee is taking care of its people more than North Carolina.
'I watched how they were inept at taking care of their people,' Faison said. 'My church, Crossroads Community Church, did far more for Western North Carolina during the first month and a half than North Carolina ever thought about doing. I don't care if they had three sessions or five sessions, they failed and my state didn't. We showed up. Our people showed up and we did the job.'
Faison also presented a property tax bill (HB6007) which would allow those whose properties were destroyed or damaged from Hurricane Helene to apply for a grant.
'It just says if you have property in East Tennessee that was destroyed or hurt during Hurricane Helene your property taxes for the year 2024, we will take care of that for you in a grant process,' Faison said. 'We will allow you to apply for a grant process. You apply through the Comptroller of the Treasury. He already has through all of your local property assessors. They have already identified every piece of property that's been destroyed or hurt or damaged. They know what your property tax is. They've created a form for you to be able to get a grant so that we will help you with that. We will also give you an additional 30% if the federal government decides that they are going to tax that portion of your property tax that we're going to do.'
All three bills regarding disaster relief passed on the Tennessee House floor on Tuesday, and will now move to the Finance Ways and Means to figure out where the money will come from. That committee meets Wednesday morning.
You can see a summary of those bills on the Tennessee General Assembly's website.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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