From The Columbus News Reporter

Rep. Brenden Jones has been highly critical of the state office tasked with helping homeowners displaced by hurricanes Matthew and Florence. This week he co-sponsored a bill that would provide the office with $217 million to finish its work while also tightening oversight of its operations.

Ensure ‘No more families are left behind’

On Tuesday, Jones, along with three Republican colleagues, introduced House Bill 222 — also dubbed the C.O.O.P.E.R. Act, a presumed dig at former Gov. Roy Cooper, whose administration previously oversaw the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency.

The long title of the bill is “an act to enact the Close Out Operations Provide Emergency Relief Act.”

In a video posted to social media Wednesday, Jones hailed the bill as a means to ensure that, “No more families are left behind” in the ongoing relief efforts.

“I still have families in my district in hotels eight years after Hurricane Matthew,” Jones said in the video. North Carolina families displaced by the hurricanes have “suffered, trapped in red tape and government incompetence,” while waiting for new homes to be built, Jones said.

“The families of eastern North Carolina deserve better,” Jones said, explaining that House Bill 222 is designed to “finally get recovery funds into the hands of the people who need them.”

Reporting requirements

House Bill 222 proposes appropriating $217 million from the State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund to NCORR.

Pryor Gibson, NCORR’s director, requested the funding during a Jan. 30 committee hearing that Jones chaired. The request for additional funding came after NCORR reported in November that it had accrued a deficit of $221 million dollars.

Jones’ bill includes multiple provisions to monitor how money has been and will be spent by the agency.

House Bill 222 would require NCORR to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations “on all funds allocated to homeowner recovery projects for Hurricanes Matthew and Florence.” The agency must also “regularly report future disbursements of all funds allocated to remaining homeowner recovery projects as they are disbursed until all homeowner recovery projects are completed” to the commission. The reports to the commission are to include “expenditures, obligations, encumbrances and associated Notices to Proceed or other documentation” related to the projects.

Jones serves as an ex officio member of the joint legislative commission. Bill Rabon, who represents Columbus County in the N.C. Senate, is also a member.

Going forward, NCORR would be required to submit two monthly reports to the commission — one on the first day of the month, detailing the agency’s expectations for that month, and a second report on the 15th day, detailing its progress on those goals so far.

Additionally, according to the bill, NCORR must submit a weekly report to the State Auditor Dave Boliek “on all expenditures for personnel, administrative expenses, capital, supplies and direct aid, and any documents” connected to Matthew and Florence-related hurricane relief. If NCORR fails to provide a weekly report to the state auditor, the agency must “provide an explanation and accounting of the failure to report expenditures in a timely manner” to both the state auditor and to the joint legislative commission.

The auditor himself is charged, if requested by the joint commission, with producing a report of the funds expended and disbursed by NCORR for Matthew and Florence relief efforts.

The Office of State Budget and Management, which provides budget and policy analysis for the governor, state agencies and the state legislature, will also perform “ongoing financial monitoring” of NCORR.

[Editor’s note: More than eight years after hurricanes struck the state, over a thousand families remain without proper homes.]

Other provisions

In addition to the new reporting and monitoring requirements, the bill calls for a re-evaluation of every applicant who was “removed, denied or otherwise ruled ineligible” for assistance through NCORR within the past six months.

The bill states that, once all Matthew- and Florence-related homeowner recovery projects are complete, NCORR will be expected to revert any leftover funding to the state’s Savings Reserve.

According to the General Assembly’s website, the last action taken on the bill was Thursday, when it was referred to the House’s Judiciary 1 Standing Committee for review.

The preceding article originally appeared on February 28, 2025 at The News Reporter’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Any views or opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Carolina Leadership Coalition. Photo by Sean Rayford for the Associated Press: Harvey Wearnes paddles a canoe through a flooded street in his neighborhood, Oct. 15, 2016, in Lumberton.