NC Senate, after monthlong pause, passes billions in Helene aid — without business grants

Yahoo

24-06-2025

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)
North Carolina senators approved a massive hurricane relief package Monday, thawing out a bill that had been frozen for a month and passing it with major changes.
Senate Republicans' proposed aid for western North Carolina lays out vastly more money than the bill passed by the House in May — around $2.46 billion in total. And it makes changes to several major line-items in the House version's, which totaled $464 million.
Among the most notable changes: the removal of a $60 million grant program for small businesses, a longtime request as many storefronts struggle to reopen due to flooding and lost tourism.
In the new bill, $700 million in spending is sent to the state's Helene recovery fund. Of that money, $465 million is appropriated, leaving the rest for future aid.
The remaining money includes federal funding and money to qualify municipalities for competitive grants, among other purposes, according to Fiscal Research Division staff at the General Assembly. Lawmakers have redirected more than half a billion dollars from local aid, road repairs and other state programs toward Helene relief.
House lawmakers and advocates in the region have for weeks requested that the Senate take up the bill and pass it, as the mountains continue to recover from Helene.
The aid package sat in committee for a month as leaders in the House and Senate negotiated the state budget; they have yet to come to an agreement.
On Monday, they got their wish, as Senate Republicans fast-tracked it through committee and onto the floor. The aid package passed in a unanimous vote.
But the removal of business grants, as well as an array of other differences, will spark frustration — and could lead to even further delay.
'This allows us — on transportation funds, on private roads and bridges — to address some of those issues,' Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) said.
Senate Democrats said they had reservations about the changes to the House's bill, which received unanimous support. And they were dubious that House Republicans would agree to the Senate's changes.
'I certainly don't think the House is going to concur with them, because they haven't been pre-negotiated with the House,' said Sen. Graig Meyer (D-Orange) in an interview. 'They've basically admitted that.'
If the bill clears the Senate this week, it will return to the House, who must agree to the changes to send it to Gov. Josh Stein's desk.
Both chambers will debate a flurry of legislation this week in what is widely viewed as a final push before they leave Raleigh for weeks.
Hise, asked by reporters Monday about why the Senate had removed money for small business grants, cited the state's 'emoluments clause.'
The North Carolina constitution declares that 'no person … is entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the community but in consideration of public services.'
Hise argues that includes a grant program, in which the state would select specific businesses to receive money, falls under that umbrella.
'We have not found a way to successfully get around that concept,' Hise said.
He said he planned to bring forward a constitutional amendment on the matter, which would require approval from the legislature and a majority of voters. It's unclear what that timeline would look like.
Senate Democratic leader Sydney Batch (D-Wake) said in an interview that if Republicans 'were that concerned,' they should have discussed the issue with the House 'instead of just jettisoning the entire bill.'
'This is literally playing with our western North Carolinian neighbors' lives and livelihoods and welfare,' Batch said. 'Only to get political chips and negotiations while we go into a budget debate.'
Past legal analyses of the state's emoluments clause have come to different conclusions than Hise.
The North Carolina attorney general's office under Mike Easley, a Democrat, wrote in a 1999 opinion to legislative leaders that natural disaster grant programs for farmers, homeowners and small businesses would benefit 'the public good.'
And a 2019 legal review from UNC professor John Orth found that 'emoluments … may include benefits or privileges granted in consideration of public services more generally.'
One western Democrat, during floor debate Monday, pointed out that one private business in the region — the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad — was set to receive money in the same bill.
'That is something this body has refused to do since last October,' said Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe).