NC Senate's proposed budget shifts additional $700M to Helene recovery

The North Carolina Senate's budget proposal, unveiled Monday, would allocate an additional $700 million more for Helene recovery.

That would bring the total dollar amount of funds the state has shifted to respond to the 2024 storm to more than $2 billion. The budget bill only allocates $25.5 million of the new Helene recovery funds.

"We remain hopeful that the federal government will provide increased and expedited reimbursements, but we must prepare to fend for ourselves," Sen. Ralph Hise, a Spruce Pine Republican and budget co-chair, said during a Monday evening press conference.

Hise also said the legislature anticipates passing additional Helene relief bills and is awaiting a proposal from Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat.

Additionally, the budget shifts $630 million in transportation funds to prioritize the reconstruction of roads and bridges in Western North Carolina. That money will provide federal-mandated matches for reconstruction activities, according to the budget bill.

To support western North Carolina's rebuilding, the Senate budget would over the biennium shift $100 million from a fund that helps municipalities maintain their roads, $45 million from a bridge preservation fund, and $42 million from a train crossing improvement fund, among other sources.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger pointed to the transportation funding as a place where budget writers found a way to move money around to respond to Helene.

"It's our belief that we have adequate reserves and we have the ability to handle the requirements that are out there, particularly those requirements that result from a federal program that requires us to match," Berger said.

The Senate budget also directs state grant programs representing roughly $750 million in funds to prioritize 16 counties the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development identified as the areas most impacted by Helene. Those include funds for parks and recreation, water infrastructure and rural health centers, among others.

The area that would be prioritized covers a swath of Western North Carolina bordered by Haywood and Transylvania counties in the west, Ashe County in the northeast and Cleveland County in the southeast.

Helene damages total just under $60 billion, primarily in Western North Carolina, according to state estimates. The storm caused at least 107 deaths in the state, with another five people still missing.

Previous Helene funds

The General Assembly previously allocated a total of about $1.4 billion to the state's Helene response over four separate bills. Of those funds, $956.8 million have been allocated to specific projects ranging from water and wastewater repairs to funding an ad campaign to lure tourists back to Western North Carolina.

Most recently, Gov. Josh Stein signed a bill in March shifting $299 million into the Hurricane Helene Disaster Relief Fund and allocating $524 million of the fund's total.

Projects funded by that 2025 legislation included:

$200 million to the N.C. Department of Agriculture to replace crops damaged by the hurricane.

$120 million to the N.C. Department of Commerce for a home construction and repair program, with the goal of receiving reimbursement from the federal government when funds become available.

$100 million to repair and replace private roads and bridges.

Stein has advocated for $1.07 billion in state funding to meet what he called "immediate needs." Those were all projects that Stein said could not wait until the General Assembly completed its budget process for the upcoming fiscal year.

The budget is scheduled to make its way through the committee process and be voted on by the full Senate this week. It would then head to the House, where it would either be approved or tweaks made.

If changes are made, a small group of leaders from both chambers would enter negotiations with the intention of settling on a final version.

Should the Senate and House hash out their differences, the individual chambers would vote on a revamped version of the bill before sending it to Stein for his consideration.