The Legislature passed House Bill 1012 with unanimous votes in both the House and Senate, providing an additional $700 million in funding for Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.
House leadership has signaled repeatedly its commitment to helping western North Carolina in its recovery, with a total of $2.1 billion now being directed towards Helene relief. WRAL reported Speaker Destin Hall saying following the vote:
“Our number one priority this session has been Helene relief. It’s going to continue to be. We passed this bill out today, so tomorrow we’ll begin on the next round of that. I’m hopeful that sometime this year we can pass another round of Helene relief.”
A breakdown of the funding is below:
- $270 million allocated from DOT budget specifically toward Helene WNC repairs
- $70 million to continue pulling down critical federal disaster recovery funding
- $75 million towards construction and reimbursement of privately owned roads and bridges
- $65 million towards repair and reconstruction of damaged schools
- $50 million in additional no-interest loans for impacted units of local government
- $70 million in funding for local government capital repairs
- $25 million to upgrade and enhance regional airports to support disaster responses
- $18 million to invest in fire stations across WNC to prepare for a high-risk fire season
- $18 million in additional funding to support our frontline volunteer organizations
- $16 million in infrastructure investments to support redevelopment in Canton, NC
- $12.25 million to repair damaged state park facilities and expedite reopening
- $10 million to support impacted public and private colleges and universities in the region
- $8 million to support apple growers in Western NC
Gov. Josh Stein signed House Bill 1012 into law over the weekend, extending the Hurricane Helene State of Emergency until October 1st.
