Vote on relief bill for NC Helene victims postponed to next week; here's how the $500M is set to be spent
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Nearly five months after the devastation of Hurricane Helene descended on the western North Carolina region, a new bill aimed at strategically allocating $500 million in state funds to these areas is on hold.
On Monday, North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall confirmed in a post on X that there will be no voting session this week 'due to the incoming winter storm', referring to the storm anticipated to bring 1-3 inches of accumulation to the area Wednesday.
Governor Josh Stein requests $1.07 billion in funding for Helene recovery in western NC
Hall followed the post up with another, in which he said the bill will be on the floor for votes first thing next week.
Monday afternoon, there was some further conversation on the bill in a meeting of the Rules Committee. In that meeting, the following breakdown of funds was given.
State Rep. Kyle Evans ran through the bill and its five parts. The main one described at length is part two, in which the appropriations are laid out. From highest-ticket spends to lowest, here are the intended priorities:
$140 million — Dept. of Commerce; division of community revitalization for home reconstruction and repair program.
$100 million — Emergency management; for private road and bridge repair
$75 million — Dept. of Agriculture; natural restoration projects such as stream debris removal, stream bank stabilization
$75 million — Dept. of Agriculture for Hurricane Helene agricultural crop loss program
$55 million — Small business infrastructure grant program
$20 million — NC's Office of State Budget and Management; debris removal and unmet needs for state agencies and local governments
$10 million — Emergency management to provide grants
$10 million — Office of the State Fire Marshal; repairs to damaged buildings, vehicles
$10 million — NC Dept. of Health and Human Services; supplemental rental assistance
$5 million — NC Dept. of Commerce for campaign efforts to boost tourism
Acknowledging the delay in making a vote, state Rep. John R. Bell, the committee chairman, said the presentation of the bill in committee was to 'help move House Bill 47 along so that way when we come back in after the snowmaggedon we're expecting to have this week, we can be prepared to conduct business'.
Other than allocating funds, the bill would serve to extend Gov. Josh Stein's State of Emergency declaration for North Carolina to June 1, 2025.
The bill also covers 'disaster recovery regulatory and procurement flexibility', which includes extension of certain timelines not tied to the state of emergency.
Opening the floor to questions, the chairman was asked how long it would take from passing the bill to getting money in the hands of those who need it.
Bell said it will be made clear in writing to expedite it as quickly as possible. State Rep. John Torbett also added he couldn't promise it would be within 30 days, but said there will be required status updates every 30 days.
State Rep. Tim Longest posed a question about the total amount of the bill—due to being short of Gov. Stein's proposed $1 billion of relief—and asked if more aid would be forthcoming.
'The short answer is yes,' Bell said. 'As you know, many governors propose many things but it's the General Assembly's responsibility to navigate through that.
'We must not and cannot and will not have another disastrous program like we saw under the last administration, under Gov. [Roy] Cooper's watch,' he said. 'We cannot afford that.
'What we want to avoid by just throwing a whole bunch of money out there is to be very strategic in how we do it. We've already put a number of funds out there. I think the total after this bill is somewhere around $1.3 or $1.4 billion that's been allocated from the General Assembly.'
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