NC needs a bold response from lawmakers to Hurricane Helene disaster

As we begin to understand the scale of Hurricane Helene’s damage to communities across our state, it is clear that North Carolina’s policymakers must be ready to make bold decisions — ones that may shift some of their long-held positions — to fund fully and equitably the rebuilding from Hurricane Helene.

We know how important public institutions and policy are in recovery and rebuilding – we saw this during the COVID-19 pandemic when public policies and funding stabilized an economy in free fall and supported the most equitable recovery in modern history.

And we know that our state plays a unique and complementary role to the federal government in responding to climate disasters by ensuring that every resident is reached and our capacity for response and resiliency is improved for the future.

Our state will only secure a complete and equitable recovery by halting tax cuts for profitable corporations and the wealthiest few to ensure that we can fund rebuilding from this disaster and the next one.

First actions by legislature show commitment to the public response

Legislators have already taken an important first step to demonstrate the bipartisan commitment necessary for recovery and rebuilding in Western NC. The bill, House Bill 149, passed on Oct. 9, and was signed by Governor Cooper into law soon after.

It provides $273 million in funding from the state’s Savings Reserve Fund, roughly 5.7 percent of the balance available in that fund, primarily to provide the necessary state match to draw down federal dollars. Federal funds, while limited, will be an important piece to the rebuilding effort that will require the coordination of federal, state, and local government action.

The bill also outlines key areas of policymaking prioritized by policymakers — namely public schools, water infrastructure, and roads.  By enabling flexibilities, the legislature seeks to support state and local agencies working to reconnect communities, clean up in the immediate aftermath, and stabilize core public systems to reach children and families.

Near-term focus must put people first

The success of rebuilding efforts in Western NC will be assessed by the people who live and work there. That is why what legislators missed in this first round should be swiftly addressed in upcoming legislative sessions,  and people and their priorities should be at the center of policy development.

After all, the recovery requires not just a rebuilding of physical infrastructure in the region but also the essential work of rebuilding people’s lives and the connections that people have to work and school, businesses and neighborhoods.

Key to the near-term recovery efforts that state policymakers can support are making sure that funding gets to people most in need and the systems that will most enable families across the region to get up and running.

Here are three priorities that should be high on the list for policymakers in the next package:

• Keeping people housed and rehousing those who have lost homes or who were homeless. Many people have lost homes, and many more risk losing their homes in eviction or foreclosure proceedings in the coming weeks and months.  A 90-day moratoria on eviction and foreclosure is an important step to ensure people stay housed. It must be coupled with funding to support households with housing assistance. Rapid rehousing programs, for those who have lost homes or were homeless at the time of the disaster, can bring broad stabilization to the recovery by ensuring people stay connected to their community.

• Replacing lost wages from temporary job losses. Many residents will be temporarily out of work. Like the school nutrition workers who received wage replacement in the state’s first bill, these workers should also receive support to stabilize their income so that they can stay in their homes and meet basic needs for food and water. Federal disaster Unemployment Insurance will be critical to this effort, but it is built from the state’s Unemployment Insurance program, which is woefully inadequate at replacing lost wages — providing just a third of prior earnings on average for those who lost work. By fixing the way that weekly benefit amounts are calculated and removing arbitrary dollar caps on the maximum benefit allowed, NC policymakers can ensure that residents of Western NC and all those who have lost work temporarily can keep up with their bills and stay connected to the labor market, as well as set up a system that will support all workers and the economy in the long-run.
• Stabilizing child-care providers who are providing essential support to families and children. Like public schools, child-care providers provide an essential service — one that FEMA deems critical to rebuilding. Ensuring that the workforce is paid while child-care centers are closed and that providers have support to stay open will allow them to deliver for Western NC.  At a minimum, promised support to stabilize the child-care system after the loss of federal funds should be immediately expanded for at least one year.

These near-term actions will help people begin the process of rebuilding by providing the stability and connection needed to plan for the future.  Only when people’s immediate needs for housing, income, and care are met will the state be able to identify the policies and funding necessary for a complete recovery.

North Carolina can afford to rebuild Western NC

As lawmakers consider the scale of damage in Western NC, they must also consider the frequency of climate disasters experienced by our state, the unmet need for rebuilding in Eastern NC from prior storms, and the ongoing responsibilities to maintain public programs for everyone in North Carolina.

North Carolina can afford to rebuild for resiliency, but it will require shifting the approach to public funding that has been the hallmark of legislative leadership over more than a decade.

Drawing from the Savings Reserve is an important near-term funding option.  But even with $4.75 billion, the Savings Reserve is not sufficient to fully fund the recovery.  The consensus recommendation of the Fiscal Research Division and OSBM is to maintain a balance in that fund sufficient to weather 9 out of 10 economic downturns, which would provide $1.25 billion for current recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Given additional consideration of the frequency of climate disasters, drawing down these funds completely would be imprudent and therefore will require ensuring the state has the capacity over time to maintain its commitment to a complete recovery.

Lawmakers must pause the corporate and personal income tax rate reductions that will automatically happen in January 2025 to ensure that the state has at least $1 billion in public money for the rebuilding effort and for ensuring continuity in services and the ability to build the Savings Reserve.

North Carolina has the capacity and the infrastructure to rebuild Western NC and deliver well-being to every North Carolinian. When lawmakers make corporations and the wealthiest few pay what they owe through taxes, we can show up for each other and deliver what those impacted by Hurricane Helene need to rebuild their communities and their lives.