Gov. Josh Stein has changed the amount of aid he’s requesting from Congress for ongoing Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.
Stein traveled to Washington, D.C., along with state Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Macon) to speak with North Carolina’s congressional delegation to offer details on his ask. The previously requested amount was $13.48 billion, a number that Stein lowered to $10.17 billion in a letter he sent to the delegation the day of their meeting.
In the letter, Stein expresses his gratitude for what he describes as FEMA’s accelerated approvals of public assistance applications.
“Through its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, FEMA has approved at least 372 voluntary acquisitions,” Stein wrote. “I thank you for that positive development.”
Just a couple of days before Stein’s June 10 meeting in the nation’s capital, FEMA released $172 million for ongoing disaster recovery. In a post on X published June 10, Stein said he was grateful for the money, much of which went to county emergency services around the region and buyouts for homeowners, but he also noted that he is still focused on getting Western North Carolina the resources it needs to build back.
“North Carolina is grateful for the continued partnership of the federal government,” he wrote. “I will not stop working to make sure Western NC gets the resources it needs to recover for the long haul.”
This most recent trip to Washington, D.C., to plead for more aid wasn’t Stein’s first. He met in January with acting FEMA Administrator Karen Evans, and in February, he went to the White House to ask President Donald Trump for additional federal support.
According to Stein’s office, the state has allocated about $2.4 billion in direct appropriations, including $395 million to match federal dollars, more than for any past disaster. State agencies have put $2 billion from their own budgets toward Helene recovery. Private insurance has paid out about $5 billion, and philanthropic organizations have contributed at least $1.4 billion.
“With this significant progress, we now know with more precision where gaps remain. And there is no doubt significant gaps remain,” Stein wrote.
The governor’s office attributes the $3 billion reduction in the request to that more precise accounting of dollars spent and dollars available, as well as a better understanding of conditions on the ground. The breakdown of the new request sees some areas, such as county and municipal governments, requesting less money, while others, like housing and water infrastructure, receiving more funding.
Stein provided a chart with updated numbers.
“Among other things, it accounts for federal and state funds that have since been awarded and to right size against revised damage estimates,” he wrote. “At the same time, we raised the state’s housing and water infrastructure request because the data show continued, real and immediate unmet needs, and the state has a proven ability to get these funds invested in communities quickly and effectively where they can make a difference.”
Stein speaks frequently of the need for more recovery dollars, something he mentioned during a visit to Canton last month where he talked about sewer and water infrastructure projects, including the town’s planned wastewater treatment plant. He did so again in the June 10 letter, stating that as of March 31, federal funding only covered about 14% of estimated damages. In addition, Stein claimed that at current funding, about 2,100 applicants will remain unserved in the state’s current single-family housing program and “every dollar” of the EPA revolving funds is now committed while at least $655 million in eligible water and sewer investments remain unfunded.
“Many local facilities, from dams and streambanks to municipal roads, fall outside FEMA’s PA eligibility and have no other path to repair without alternative federal assistance programs. Local governments are still absorbing revenue losses that strain their abilities to deliver basic services, let alone cover the costs of repairing and building necessary new infrastructure,” he wrote in the letter.
One of the notable requests from Stein is that Congress provide money for private road and bridge repair, something prohibited by FEMA through the Stafford Act. However, Sen. Corbin told The Smoky Mountain News that because of the prevalence of private roads and bridges in the rural areas hit hard by Helene, and the ongoing impact of impassible roads, that should be a consideration at the federal level.
“The difference with this storm is it happened in very rugged mountain terrain. Water runs down to lowest elevation area and that’s where the private roads and bridges are,” Corbin said.
The biggest request, at $3.07 billion, is related to repairing damaged homes and recovering housing stock. Corbin said that right now, about 2,000 homes are in “the pipeline,” whether people are receiving money for repairs, replacement or a buyout of their homes. The senator wants to see that number grow to 4,000 in short order.
“Our message is we need to make sure we get that money in the pipeline because it takes a year to flow through,” he said.
Corbin, who chairs Stein’s advisory committee on WNC recovery, said he thinks the bipartisan nature of his and Stein’s trip is worth mentioning. In a world where government is polarized at every level, a Democratic governor and a Republican senator, amid ongoing state budget drama no less, presented a unified voice when arguing on behalf of their constituents to get congress to provide Helene recovery dollars after no movement in a year and a half.
“He and I disagree on some ways to approach state government and different policy, but we still agree on a lot,” Corbin said. “I think things we can agree on, we ought to work together, and something we agree on is maximizing federal dollars using matching state dollars.”
In a press release, Stein said he thought that the meetings went well since everyone understands the kind of recovery Helene necessitates, but that more action is needed.
“I am encouraged by today’s meetings with North Carolina’s congressional delegation, and I look forward to working with them to deliver more federal resources to Western North Carolina,” he said in the release. “The people of Western North Carolina are working hard on their recovery. Their state and federal government need to do their parts.”
Corbin hopes to see the federal government reimburse at least half of the state’s total losses from Helene, meaning about $30 billion.
Stein and Corbin spoke with both Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) and Republican Sen. Ted Budd in separate meetings. The meeting with Edwards was perhaps most important of the trip, not only because the congressman represents most of the areas most affected by Helene, but also because he sits on the House Appropriations Committee.
“We’re asking him to lead the way, and he’s volunteered to lead the way on requesting more funding, and that’s done through the appropriations bill as a contingent resolution as money moves through Congress,” Corbin said.
Edwards told SMN that he was happy to see Stein adjust the amount he was requesting from the federal government, since some of those requests were already “baked into the equation.” He said he isn’t hoping Congress aims for a “specific percentage” when it comes to doling out dollars for hurricane relief, but rather that issues should be addressed as needed.
“It isn’t just going and writing a check for $10 billion,” he said. “So much of that is already worked into the equation. As an example, the governor’s request was just lowered by $3.5 billion because of recovery efforts.”
Time will tell if Congress will grant all or some of Stein’s request, but Corbin remains optimistic.
“I fully understand that we may not get the full amount for each one of those depending on how they hash that out, but I do think we’re going to get part of it, and the state will continue to fund it,” he said. “A dollar we get is a dollar we didn’t have.”