Summary: Western North Carolina communities need significant support to fully recover from the long-term impacts of Hurricane Helene.

The Facts: The Disaster Recovery and Relief Act 2025 Part 2, House Bill 1012, is currently in the NC Senate Committee on Rules and Operations. It contains $460 million in new relief, including $60 million in grants for small businesses and $50 billion for local governments to help rebuild infrastructure. (You can read more about the bill here.)

History: A previous bill (North Carolina State Senate Bill 675) would have set up a mechanism for local Cities and Counties who suffered economic damage stemming from Hurricane Helene to get state-funded support so they don’t need to radically cut their budgets this year. It was not passed out of committee so is essentially “dead” for this term.

Our Assessment: This bill has shortcomings: It includes about half of the funds recently requested by Governor Josh Stein, and it doesn’t offer the flexible revenue replacement that local governments need. However, the small business grants are much needed, and the support for infrastructure repair is also important. The bill appears to have bipartisan support, so it’s important that it move forward.

The Ask: We invited you to join us in emailing several key State Senators, asking them to support this legislation. We also urge you to pass along this call to action to anyone you know in Western North Carolina so they can do likewise.

Report Back

Update 6/30/25: The bill passed. You can read more here.

Update 6/23/24: This bill is still in the NC Senate Committee on Rules and Operations