Raleigh Report Special Edition
NOTE: IIANC has been working hard to provide assistance to our members in the impacted parts of the state, and information on those resource can be found on our website.
The NC General Assembly came to Raleigh for a one-day Session on Thursday to authorize more spending to address the damage done in western North Carolina by Hurricane Helene.
Governor Cooper announced on Wednesday that his administration’s estimate for all storm damages is $53B, and called for the legislature to authorized $3.9B for what he called a ‘down payment on western North Carolina’s future.’
Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger dismissed the governor’s request and criticized the Cooper administration’s handling of relief and recovery efforts from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence, citing a recent request sent legislators from the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency for $175M in additional funding for cost overruns.
What the legislature produced and voted on Thursday was SB 743, which provides funding for various state relief and recovery programs, and SB 132, which modified election law to accommodate challenges in storm-impacted counties.
Both bills passed (SB 743 unanimously in both chambers, and SB 132 without opposition in the Senate but receiving two NO votes in the House) and are now on Governor Cooper’s desk awaiting his signature.
Contained within SB 743 is funding totaling more than $600M which was taken from the state’s nearly $4.5B in the budget reserves, called the ‘Rainy Day Fund.’
Among the items included in the relief package were:
- Funding to cover additional personnel and operational costs of state agencies directly provide services in the impacted areas of the state;
- $100M for loans to local governments for water and wastewater treatment system repairs;
- $50M for small business loans;
- $5M for mental health services;
- $16M for tuition grants for university and community college students.
This is in addition to the $273M in relief and recovery funds appropriated by the General Assembly in the special Session held back on October 9th.
The state legislature will return again on November 19th to take up additional funding and program needs associated with storm damage in the western part of the state, as well as some other budgetary issues left unresolved when the General Assembly adjourned back in June.
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