North Carolina General Assembly Passes First Hurricane Disaster Relief Package
This Week’s Legislative Session Due to the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene, the House and Senate reconvened for a one-day session this week to pass HB 149—Disaster Recovery Act of 2024. The bill contains $273 million in disaster relief to address the critical needs of North Carolinians in the western part of the state. In addition, it extends the statewide declaration of emergency through March 1, 2025.
“This bill ensures immediate financial aid and resources to help families rebuild their homes, businesses and communities,” said Speaker of the House Tim Moore (R-Cleveland). “This legislation is merely a first step, and we intend to do even more for Western North Carolina in the near future.” Consequently, lawmakers will return for another one-day session on October 24 to address additional needs that emerge from the recovery efforts.
HB 149 establishes a new Hurricane Helene Disaster Recovery Fund with $273 million from the state’s Savings Reserve Fund. The legislature allocated $250 million for state agencies to meet the federal government’s match for state and local disaster assistance programs.
Key appropriations and policy provisions contained in the General Assembly’s initial disaster relief package include the following:
Education
Allots $16 million to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to assist local school districts in paying nutrition staff who have lost compensation due to school closures;
Allows teachers and school employees to be paid for scheduled instructional days missed due to the hurricane.
Elections
Appropriates $5 million to the State Board of Elections for the resources it needs to administer the general election in November and to assist local boards of election in 25 impacted counties with temporary election law changes related to absentee ballots, changing polling sites and hiring more election workers;
Allows in-person absentee ballot requests until 5pm on November 4, the day before Election Day in the 25 affected counties;
Mandates voter education efforts, including establishing a voter information resource for those impacted by the storm.
Health Care
Provides temporary authorization for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to increase or relocate home hemodialysis and in-center dialysis stations in impacted areas;
Allows temporary authorization for DHHS to extend provisional licenses for adult care homes located in impacted areas.
Infrastructure
Permits the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to transfer funds between the Clean Water Reserve and the Drinking Water Reserve accounts within the Water Infrastructure Fund to provide emergency loans to local governments.
Local Governments
Provides $2 million to the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) to help impacted towns, cities and counties navigate the aid process.
Small Businesses
Authorizes the Golden Leaf Foundation to extend loans for small businesses impacted by the hurricane to 180 months.
Taxes
Waives interest on underpayments of franchise, corporate income and individual income taxes for taxpayers in affected counties from September 25, 2024, through May 1, 2025;
Waives interest on underpayments of withheld taxes for employers in affected counties;
Allows partnerships and S corporations to make a timely election to be taxed as pass through entities for tax year 2023 on returns due between September 25, 2024, and May 1, 2025, if filed by May 1, 2025.
Transportation
Allows the Governor to waive fees assessed by the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for residents who must obtain duplicate driver’s licenses or ID cards and live in the impacted counties;
Authorizes the Governor to waive some environmental permitting requirements for road repairs needed during the state of emergency.
At a press conference Wednesday morning, Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) relayed that this package is a fraction of what the state will need to spend on recovery, but legislators are waiting for further action from the federal government. “As far as the total that the state is going to expend, no, this is not all of it, not by a long shot,” Sen. Berger said. “A lot of what will be needed for recovery will be funded at the federal level by the folks at FEMA, and the state’s obligation is generally for a match of some sort. We don’t want to get too far ahead of the federal government on that because we don’t want to supplant those federal dollars with state dollars if we’re not required to.”
By Wednesday afternoon, the Senate and House moved quickly to adopt the conference report for HB 149. Both chambers supported the legislation by a bipartisan unanimous vote, with 48-0 in the Senate and 113-0 in the House.
And by Thursday morning, Governor Roy Cooper had signed the bill into law. “Recovery for Western North Carolina will require unprecedented help from state and federal sources and this legislation is a strong first step,” said the Governor. “Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage but also showed the resiliency of North Carolina’s people and its communities, and we must continue the bipartisan work to help them build back strong.”
A link to the hurricane relief legislation can be found here, and a bill summary can be found here. Governor’s Executive Orders Governor Roy Cooper has spent a significant amount of time on the ground with federal, state and local officials in the counties and towns that have been directly impacted by Hurricane Helene. Consequently, Governor Cooper issued the following Executive Orders to ensure that all resources are available for use in the emergency response.
Executive Order No. 315 is the Governor’s State of Emergency Declaration for North Carolina and provides a temporary waiver and the suspension of motor vehicle regulations for drivers and vehicles supporting emergency relief efforts. A link to EO No. 315 can be found here.
Executive Order No. 316 permits the use, sale and distribution of dyed diesel fuel for highway use in order to ensure that all resources are available for use by emergency response personnel to reach impacted areas. A link to EO No. 316 can be found here.
Executive Order No. 317 provides flexibility for state government to hire temporary employees to help with emergency response and disaster relief efforts resulting from Hurricane Helene. This executive order also provides enhanced paid leave options for state government employees directly impacted by the hurricane. A link to EO No. 317 can be found here.
Executive Order No. 318 increases the capacity of the health care workforce by making it easier for providers licensed in other states, retirees and other providers with necessary skills to assist with response and recovery efforts. This executive order also authorizes the State Health Director to issue standing orders for emergency medications and authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to modify or waive fees for the replacement of vital records. A link to EO No. 318 can be found here.
Other Regulatory Relief In the wake of Hurricane Helene, state agencies took action to ensure that critical services remained in place for North Carolinians.
Health Care
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) worked with state, federal and local partners to put temporary flexibilities in place to help Medicaid recipients in hard-hit areas to continue access to necessary health care. Temporary changes to the NC Medicaid program included allowing recipients to fill their prescriptions early; making it easier for health care providers to participate in Medicaid through an expedited process to have more medical professionals on the ground; maintaining support for people with traumatic brain injuries or intellectual and/or developmental disabilities; expediting the process for recipients to be admitted into nursing homes; allowing hospitals to partner with other hospitals to provide telemedicine to Medicaid patients; among other designated changes. The temporary flexibilities for Medicaid beneficiaries that were instituted on September 26 will remain active through October 15, 2024.
More information can be found in the two DHHS press releases below:
After the one-day October session, the General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, November 19 at 12pm and adjourn on Friday, November 22. During this four-day session, lawmakers may pass another disaster relief spending plan, take up votes to override the Governor’s vetoes or any other legislative business as laid out in SJR 916—Adjournment Resolution.
The House will reconvene Thursday, October 24 at 12pm. The Senate will reconvene Thursday, October 24 at 12pm.