House swiftly passes $464M in Helene aid for business grants, WNC repairs

Yahoo

22-05-2025

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors sort debris pulled from the bottom of Lake Lure in Rutherford County, North Carolina on April 14, 2025. Vegetative and man-made debris was washed into Lake Lure after Hurricane Helene devastated the region. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Michael Davis)
The House unanimously approved $464 million in new relief for western North Carolina on Thursday, swiftly sending a package that includes money for small business grants to the Senate.
The aid bill sets out $60 million for a long-requested grant program, allowing western businesses already saddled with loans to build back from damages. And it sends $50 million to local governments to help rebuild infrastructure.
It comes in at about half of the level Gov. Josh Stein requested earlier this week, but earned broad bipartisan support as lawmakers push for investment in a disaster region that has seen a slow trickle of federal aid.
'We didn't stop with looking at what needed to be funded, what might not have been funded before,' said Rep. Karl Gillespie (R-Macon). 'We took a deep dive into what had been funded, and was it on the mark? Was that money doing the job we intended for it to do?'
Much of the money in the House package comes from NCInnovation, a private research nonprofit that Republicans have sought to claw back money from. And $65 million is clawed back from other programs deemed unsuccessful or unsatisfactory, redirected elsewhere for recovery.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle praised the bill during floor debate Thursday.
'Our people in certain places are still really hurting,' said Rep. Eric Ager (D-Buncombe). 'This bill's going to really help.'
The business grants, Ager said, would 'keep businesses rolling and really help our economy not fall off a cliff.'
Republicans have previously been hesitant to approve grants for businesses, wary of fraud and large companies taking advantage. They have instead opted for loans — a more fiscally conservative option, but one that many businesses have said they cannot afford to take on.
Budget writers' solution was to require businesses to document revenue loss in order to receive a grant.
'I think if we have some standard that we can measure those things, our folks are much more comfortable with it,' House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) said Wednesday evening. 'We're not the federal government, we can't print money like they did for [the Paycheck Protection Program].'
Although the money for local governments to repair infrastructure was necessary, one Democrat said, those municipalities need further aid. Many governments are facing budget shortfalls due to lost tourism revenue in the fall busy season.
'I hope that as we move forward, we can provide more flexible funds,' said Rep. Lindsey Prather (D-Buncombe).
Also included in the bill is $70 million to continue earning federal reimbursement, $30 million for private road and bridge repairs, $30 million for debris removal, and $25 million to repair destroyed schools.
The regional airport infrastructure is also set to see improvements from a bundle of $25 million. Western North Carolina's mountainous terrain meant that almost all aid in the weeks after the storm came by air.
If the House package is approved by the Senate and signed into law, it would bring the legislature's total spending on Helene recovery to more than $1.8 billion.
But the bill's immediate future is uncertain. The Senate has proposed allocating money for Helene within its budget proposal; the House has approached relief as a separate bill.
Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said his caucus was 'open to negotiating' on Helene relief.
'We've not had those conversations,' Berger told reporters Thursday. 'It's clear that the House has taken a different approach on that. We'll see if we can come to an agreement.'
'That may argue for us to actually include it in the budget,' he added, of concerns that prolonged negotiations could delay storm relief. 'Because I think everybody wants that to go forward.'