CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) -- The North Carolina General Assembly has approved three aid packages in response to Hurricane Helene: the Disaster Recovery Act, Senate Bill 743, and Senate Bill 382. They total up to $1.1 billion.
High Point University political science professor Martin Kifer says right now, there's no timetable on when western North Carolina neighbors will receive the funds.
"It does take time,” Kifer explained. “Once you say, okay, we intend to spend this money, it takes time to make sure that you can acquire the goods. You know, that you can hire the services that you're going to need.”
NC lawmakers vote to override veto of controversial relief bill which weakens powers of NC’s governor, among othersSB 382 calls for the transfer of $227 million from the state's "rainy day" fund to Helene relief. However, state leaders cannot get it until the General Assembly approves its use, and that won't happen until lawmakers' 2025 session begins in January.
The bill went into law on Wednesday with an override of Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.
"Once the money is appropriated, as I understand it, the way the branches of government work is up to the executive branch to implement,” Kifer said. “It means you have all these different agencies and different functions of government, and sometimes they hire not-for-profit or private sector companies to do the implementation. So the money, the resources, and so forth is managed by the executive branch rather than this new legislature.”
Buncombe County Democrat Rep. Eric Ager say the refrain of funds being on the way falls on deaf ears.
"It's been three months, we've been down here a couple of times, and we should've done more sooner,” Ager said. “We talk about figuring all this out. The people in North Carolina are tired of hearing that help is on the way. It’s not coming.”
N.C. Rep Eric Ager (D-Buncombe County)The measure passed this week splits the cash between state agencies. $2 million is intended for technical assistance to Soil and Water Conservation districts in affected areas and at least $100 million will be go towards cash-flow loans to local governments in the region.
Those loans must be repaid within five years.
A Charlotte woman who has followed the progress of SB 382 believes the storm victims of western North Carolina themselves should receive the bulk of the aid.
"Why would we not first put money in the pockets of people and create a system that's reimbursement?” Nia Griffin offered. “We can have people provide receipts that says, this is what I paid for when we had to go to that hotel when we had to go out of state. These are the expenses. It is very hard to watch this group of people be so future-focused and completely disregard what happened in arrears. People are already out of that money.”
Young voters shocked to find out top NC Dems they voted in will have limited powerOn Wednesday, the Director of the State Office of Budget & Management told leaders that one-third of that money is serving as a state match required to access federal money and one-third is in the form of loans.
That means the majority of the $354 million the state has committed so far will take longer to spend and that money is focused on infrastructure rather than the people in western North Carolina.
"I was looking for something that would replenish and increase the reserves that we have. Because similarly to pay in this country, we are not upping the maximums on what we hold in our accounts as a state or as a country,” Griffin said. “When things go wrong, we push a bill, which is how our government works, but I rarely see the language that says 'Okay, if we keep $5 million in here...
“Well, why are we not keeping $50 million? Has it been $5 million since the ‘90s? How many accidents and how many disasters have we had since then? We have to update our governance entirely as a part of this bill, and that's what I would hope to see.”
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