For NC's Helene team, challenges begin: Slow-moving money, housing data and demanding lawmakers
North Carolina Rep. Brendan Jones (R-Columbus), left, and Sen. Brent Jackson (R-Bladen) listen to testimony at a hearing on Hurricane Helene recovery on March 6, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
State officials charged with leading western North Carolina's recovery from Hurricane Helene have warned that there are years of rebuilding ahead.
But top state lawmakers made their expectations clear Thursday: they want shovels in the ground, and houses under construction, as soon as possible.
During a two-hour hearing, Republicans demanded details on how Gov. Josh Stein's lieutenants for Helene recovery would approach homebuilding — a process that bedeviled former Gov. Roy Cooper's administration and infuriated lawmakers across the aisle.
'It's starting to feel like Groundhog Day again,' said Rep. Brenden Jones (R-Columbus), the House majority leader.
'We don't have six years to do this,' he added. 'I want to see some houses. This body wants to see some houses. We want some people made whole.'
But rebuilding can't begin in earnest without funding, administration officials said — and it remains an uphill battle to get aid money flowing into the mountains.
The legislature is on the brink of approving $140 million to kickstart the program. But federal dollars — which make up the lion's share of relief — will be slow to arrive, between a strict regulatory process and staffing shakeups in Washington.
'We have to work through (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) and the federal requirements,' said Stephanie McGarrah, a Stein appointee heading up a new Department of Commerce team focused on Helene. 'We just have to be realistic about what we can, and cannot do, with these funds.'
Officials have submitted their plan to spend $1.4 billion in federal dollars — a key chunk of money for housing efforts. But reported cuts to the office handling that money could complicate things. McGarrah said when the state met with HUD officials last week, 'they couldn't confirm' whether or not those cuts were coming.
When that money does arrive (likely in late summer), the administration will face other obstacles in spending it. Information on housing damage in the region is fuzzy, McGarrah said, between FEMA, the Small Business Administration, HUD and local governments.
'We're struggling to define the problem because of the data we have and don't have,' she said.
Republicans are frustrated by those complications. Sen. Timothy Moffitt (R-Henderson) said he didn't have a lot of trust in either the state or federal efforts.
'I would trust my colleagues to take a checkbook to their districts,' he said. 'Because we could administer that more immediately than these complicated processes.'
Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe) cautioned her colleagues against directing frustrations attributable to federal government delays and inaction toward state officials.
'I don't want us to be back here in two years yelling at you all because of chaos at the federal level that has prevented that money from flowing,' Mayfield said.
The state will soon start taking steps towards a formal housing aid program.
Jonathan Krebs, Stein's advisor for western North Carolina, said they'd begin shopping for a vendor to lead the application process 'within the next 30 days.' But they would not begin accepting applicants for rebuilding until the money was totally guaranteed, he said.
'Our ability to not wait depends on your action,' Krebs told lawmakers.
Stein's Helene staff shared a raft of data and numbers with legislators Thursday as they outlined recovery efforts. Here are a few of the most notable.
30-40: How many staff McGarrah is estimating her Commerce team will hire to handle Helene. Cooper's homebuilding agency, ReBuild NC, attracted Republicans' ire by hiring more than 200. The administration plans to rely more heavily on outside contractors than prior relief teams. Currently, McGarrah's team has just a handful of employees.
$57 million: An estimate of how much outstanding Helene repairs to public school facilities will cost the state. 'Additional need is required,' officials note in a presentation to lawmakers.
$191 million: The amount of federal money that state officials have proposed spending on rebuilding rental housing. It caught the attention of Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood), who grilled officials on how it would be used.
$50 million: The amount expended by the Department of Commerce (through the Golden LEAF Foundation) for small business loans. That's all of the money allocated to the program. Business owners have continued to call for further aid from the state.
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