North Carolina lawmakers pass a $273M Helene relief bill with voting changes to more counties

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislators completed an initial $273 million relief package Wednesday to help spur recovery from Hurricane Helene, describing it as a down payment on aid and a way to help hard-hit counties gain more flexibility in holding elections already underway.

The legislation, which was approved unanimously in the House and Senate, comes less than two weeks after the catastrophic flooding from the storm’s historic rainfall in the North Carolina mountains.

Over half of the 238 confirmed Helene-related deaths in Southeastern states in Helene’s path occurred in North Carolina, a presidential battleground state where absentee voting has already begun.

Tens of thousands of electricity customers in the region remain without power and some people, including residents of Asheville, still lack running water. The voice of legislators from the ravaged region cracked with emotion when talking about the heavy blows dealt by Helene.

“I want to thank you for putting your first seeds into the ground,” said Sen. Ralph Hise, a Republican from Mitchell County, where he said the local water system is “unsalvageable” and otherwise would take years to replace. “We’ve never seen devastation like this before.”

Republican legislative leaders who helped craft the measure with input from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration and election officials emphasized repeatedly that more legislation and funds would come soon. Lawmakers have also agreed to return Oct. 24 for more action, rather than wait until mid-November for an already scheduled session. They acknowledged the effort would take months and years to complete.

“The recovery that is going to have to be done is going to be something that is a Herculean task, but it is something that we will get done,” House Speaker Tim Moore said.

Nearly all the money in the bill — $250 million — is earmarked for state agencies to meet the federal government’s match for state and local disaster assistance programs. State government currently has $4.75 billion set aside in a “rainy-day” fund and $733 million in a disaster response reserve. Other pots of money could be tapped if needed.

The governor was expected to sign the legislation. “I appreciate the efforts of the legislature today to pass a bill to aid these communities,” Cooper said at a Helene recovery briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh.

The bill also includes specifics to ensure teachers and cafeteria workers in public schools closed in Helene’s aftermath get paid. Fees for people to replace lost driver’s licenses and identification cards are getting waived, as are some highway repair and open storm debris burn permitting requirements.

The bill also largely follows rule alterations for conducting elections and turning in ballots that were approved unanimously earlier this week by the State Board of Elections. But lawmakers decided to expand the alterations from 13 of the state’s 100 counties approved by the board to 25 counties — in keeping with the scope of the federal disaster declaration, Senate leader Phil Berger said.

The storm’s flooding has severely damaged some voting sites, making replacements necessary. Early in-person voting is held Oct. 17 through Nov. 2.

The legislation allows voters registered in the 25 counties, for example, to request an absentee ballot in person up until the day before Election Day. These voters also would have more ways to drop off those absentee ballots, including any open early voting site or county election office in any of the 100 counties, as well as at the State Board of Elections office in Raleigh. That goes beyond the additional options approved by the state board. Such ballots still must be turned in by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign sent out a news release late Tuesday suggesting 10 changes so displaced voters “don’t lose their right to participate in this important election.” Most of the ideas are contained in the legislation, although one appears absent.

Overall, the region affected by the election changes has historically favored Republican candidates, although Asheville and surrounding Buncombe County is considered a Democratic stronghold.

Sen. Paul Newton, a Cabarrus County Republican and Senate elections committee co-chairman, emphasized the changes in the bill were nearly all based on the board’s bipartisan order earlier in the week, and that many entities provided input to staff.

“We just saw the level of devastation and knew we had to make changes for anybody to have a chance of voting in these elections,” Newton said. “That would be true no matter whether it’s red or blue.”

In floor debate, Democratic and Republican mountain legislators described the destruction they’ve witnessed in their districts. They spoke gratefully about acts of heroism and assistance from outside the region, including convoys of supplies.

GOP Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, who with others helped open a Henderson County aid distribution warehouse, said mountain people are strong and resilient.

“But people are still needing help even though they don’t ask for it,” Balkcom said, adding the legislation is “a start to help get people what they need.”