Statement on NC General Assembly and Hurricane Helene recovery from Alexandra Sirota, Executive Director of the NC Budget & Tax Center

North Carolina legislators have the opportunity to support the immediate response to Hurricane Helene’s devastation in Western NC and ensure the people in every community impacted by climate disasters have what they need right now to be safe and begin the long road to recovery.

We urge lawmakers to commit to a process that centers the voices of those impacted in a systematic way so that we can continue to identify the needs that are surfacing and monitor our collective progress to the full recovery that we need for our neighbors.

The need for the state to fund supports for people and families will continue to come into focus in the coming days and weeks. While federal aid will be important, the state should take on the responsibility of ensuring that every disaster survivor — especially those historically marginalized and with low incomes including people of color, seniors, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, people with limited English proficiency, and rural residents — is reached with food, housing, water, cash assistance and care to secure a full recovery.

As we know from the ongoing rebuilding effort in Eastern NC from hurricanes years ago, this will require more than one piece of legislation and more than one session. North Carolina legislators must bring the full capacity we have as a state to advance recovery and rebuilding and bolster the disaster and emergency management systems we have for this long-term effort and the continued disaster threats we will face in the future.

This is why it is essential that state lawmakers take fiscally responsible steps to fund this recovery and rebuilding effort.

The scale of need is historic. Drawing down the Savings Reserve Fund that stands at $4.75 billion is essential but insufficient. Lawmakers must also act now to pause the scheduled income tax reductions for profitable corporations and the wealthy few, which are scheduled for January 2025.

It is never the time to cut essential public funding that helps us all for the benefit of corporations and the wealthy few. But this is especially harmful and irresponsible in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s destruction, when our communities are most in need of help.

We need public funding to take care of North Carolinians affected in unimaginable ways and to aid our communities through the very lengthy process of rebuilding, we are just starting to understand the scale of funding needed. The scheduled income tax cuts would drastically reduce the dollars that we have to rebuild Western NC and fund other essential needs.

With lawmakers’ first proposals, they can demonstrate that they are committed to the long road ahead for all residents of Western NC and make the choices needed to fund a robust and equitable response.

 

ABOUT NC BUDGET & TAX CENTER: The NC Budget & Tax Center is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that documents fiscal and economic conditions in communities to support the work of people, organizations, and government to advance solutions to poverty and pursue racial equity.

Contact: Alexandra Sirota, Executive Director of the NC Budget & Tax Center, alexandra@ncbudget.org, or Mel Umbarger, Communications & Technology Manager, mel@ncbudget.org