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Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Stein asks legislators for $1.1 billion in Helene funds

Gov. Josh Stein asked legislators to release $1.1 billion from the state’s reserves to fund an assortment of hurricane-relief efforts in western North Carolina through the summer.

Most of the money would come from the state’s “stabilization and inflation” reserve, which as of Jan. 31 contained $1 billion. Stein is asking the General Assembly to appropriate $846.7 million.

Another $225 million would come from a special “Helene Disaster Recovery Fund” legislators set up last October and have since stocked with $1.1 billion.

The late September storm and subseqent flooding caused 105 deaths and historic damage in a wide swath of western North Carolina. State officials estimate as much as $60 billion will be needed to restore the region.

The most recent of three bills allotting money to the Helene fund became law in Dec. 11. It deposited $227 million into the fund, but didn’t authorize its release.

The largest piece of Stein’s request, $310.6 million, would go toward infrastructure repairs. Another $295 million is ticketed for economic stimulus, via among other things a set of small-business grants.

Stein said the state faces “dire and immediate” recovery needs that can’t wait on larger flows of federal aid to begin arriving.

“We cannot remain reactive to temporary solutions and federal program management to drive our response,” he said. “Rather, we must proactively face the challenges confronting the west.”

For more about Stein’s request, read Tuesday’s N.C. Tribune.

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