North Carolina House advances more Hurricane Helene aid in $465M package

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina House advanced another Hurricane Helene funding package on Thursday to address pressing needs in the mountains eight months after the storm caused historic flooding and destruction.

The $465 million package, approved unanimously by the chamber just one day after its unveiling, is about half the $891 million that Democratic Gov. Josh Stein requested from the Republican-controlled General Assembly this week. Republicans lawmakers had been working on their package well before Stein’s pitch on Monday.

The package, which now goes to the Senate for consideration, includes grants for farmers to rebuild barns and greenhouses and for businesses that have experienced monetary storm-related losses. There are also funds to continue debris removal and to repair schools and private roads and bridges.

“The funding in this bill is practical and is going to real work to get done,” GOP Rep. Jennifer Balkcom of Henderson County, one of the counties harmed by the storm, said during floor debate.

To date, the General Assembly has appropriated or allocated more than $1.6 billion in recovery funds since September’s storm. That contrasts with the estimated $60 billion in overall Helene damages and recovery needs. More than 100 people died from the storm in North Carolina, state officials say.

Disaster relief already approved by Congress and other federal funding sources may ultimately provide more than $15 billion to North Carolina. But those funds have been slow to reach the state.

Stein, who is seeking more federal funds, said this week that western North Carolina needs more state assistance now, rather than wait on “uncertain federal assistance.”

House members from both parties praised the newest round of recovery funding.

“I think we’ll never get enough money from the federal (government) or the state to make us whole by any stretch, and we think we all know that,” Democratic Rep. Eric Ager of Buncombe County said. “But this is going to make a big difference.”

Ager and others emphasized the $60 million included to initiate a leading priority for the governor — a state program providing direct grants to businesses that suffered economic losses from the storm and its aftermath.

GOP lawmakers declined to provide such payments in the most recent aid package enacted in March even while offering similar grants to farmers for agricultural losses from Helene and other weather emergencies.

House Speaker Destin Hall said GOP colleagues had been worried a business grant program that lacked controls would lead to funds for many companies that don’t need help, like what happened with COVID-19 pandemic business grants from the federal government.

This initiative, however, requires applicants to show details of financial need, such as an economic loss of at least $25,000. The maximum grant allowed would be $75,000.

“If we have some standard that we can measure those things, our folks are much more comfortable with it,” Hall told reporters this week.

The package provides funds for other items that Stein sought, albeit at lower levels. There’s $12.5 million for parks, museum and library repairs; $33 million for public school repairs; and tens of millions of dollars to cover federal matching funds for local and state governments.

The Senate agreed to set aside $700 million in its two-year budget plan approved last month for future Helene recovery needs, but left out details on how to spend it. The House crafted the newest tranche of aid separate from its own budget bill, which it approved on Thursday.

Helene aid and the budget likely will become intertwined in the coming weeks because the two chambers are using different funding sources. The House wants to use money that the Senate budget earmarked for future construction of the state’s first stand-alone children’s hospital. The House has been cautious about offering more hospital funds right now.