With North Carolina’s Republican-dominated General Assembly still dead-set on refusing to provide meaningful relief for mountain communities hit hard by Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper traveled to Washington, D.C., with a delegation of western leaders, appealing to higher authority for help.
On Nov. 19 and 20, the North Carolina House and Senate passed S382, the third storm relief bill since Oct. 9. The bill brings total appropriations to roughly a billion dollars, but the latest round of funding — $227 million — was merely appropriated and can’t be spent “until appropriated by an act of the General Assembly,” likely next year.
Elected officials have been calling for direct grant assistance to impacted businesses to avert economic catastrophe. Instead, the bill that passed was mostly about stripping power from incoming Democrats elected by the voters of North Carolina, including Governor-elect Josh Stein and Attorney General-elect Jeff Jackson.
“I’m deeply concerned that instead of help for Western North Carolina, that they used this storm as a front to engage in yet another power grab that I think hurts North Carolina,” Cooper told The Smoky Mountain News Nov. 22
Notably, three House reps from the far west — Mike Clampitt, Karl Gillespie and Mark Pless — voted against the bill, and were the only Republicans to do so. Pless said “the bill appears to do nothing for Western NC” on Facebook the day after his vote.
“First, I appreciate their courage, and I think they’ve done the right thing to try to push this legislature to do right by Western North Carolina,” Cooper said. “This is not a disaster relief bill. It’s just simply a disaster. [Clampitt, Gillespie and Pless] are working to try to get more money for Western North Carolina, and I commend them for what they’ve done so far.
Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers praised the three western reps for sticking up for a region that consistently feels overlooked by Raleigh — perhaps for good reason.
What you saw was fundamental, principled leadership and doing right by the people of Western North Carolina. That was not a hurricane relief bill; it was a bill that was trying to be marketed as one. Even when talking about the money, it just shifts money. It doesn’t allocate where it goes,” said Smathers. “It was a bill that was done behind closed doors, very quickly and not involving even the Republicans, even our own legislators. This is a bill that should not have been passed and should not exist and should be vetoed. And if it was Democrats doing it, I would say the same thing.”
Based on comments made by Cooper, including to Spectrum television yesterday, it appears likely he will veto the bill. Although Republicans still have a veto-proof supermajority until the next session begins, they’d still need votes from Clampitt, Gillespie and Pless to override the expected veto.
While that situation plays out over the next three weeks, Cooper has turned to President Joe Biden for federal storm relief.
“He has proposed to Congress $100 billion to be appropriated to help disaster relief across the country, with North Carolina being a major part of that,” Cooper said. “I and Governor-elect Stein, along with a number of western local leaders including Mayor Smathers met with the president, met with his team, met with about nine federal agencies.”
The delegation included Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, Buncombe County Commission Chair Amanda Edwards, Buncombe Commissioner Parker Sloan, Chimney Rock Mayor Peter O’Leary, Lake Lure Mayor Pro Temp Dave DiOrio and Madison County Manager Rod Honeycutt, among others.
Cooper’s delegation also met with congressional budget staff in the House and the Senate, including ranking Democratic Senate Budget Chair Patty Murray (D-Washington). Smathers lauded the bipartisan support, singling out Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) for praise. Cooper said he was encouraged by the meetings with North Carolina Republican senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd.
“They both tell us that they are 100% behind funding for this. It is critical that we have both sides of the aisle working very hard to get storm recovery. I want our state legislature to make sure that it does its part and that we show the federal government that we are willing to appropriate money at the state level as well, but we’ll see what Congress does,” said Cooper. “I’m encouraged by the meetings that we had the day before yesterday, and yesterday. We spent two days in Washington on this issue, and I look forward to that success.”
Cooper’s ask was $25.5 billion, but as the door closes on the Biden administration — and the Democrat-led Senate, and Cooper’s own eight years as governor — Cooper’s not taking any chances.
“This funding package will also be presented to President-elect Trump, and we hope that his administration will also keep at the forefront recovery from Hurricane Helene, because this is an unprecedented storm that’s going to require unprecedented action and flexibility for us to deal with, a storm that has hit the mountains in an area where topography requires greater investment,” Cooper said. “We need to make sure that we have these roads and bridges and water systems built in a way that they’re stronger, so that they can withstand future storms.”
Smathers thinks relief could come sooner than Jan. 20, when Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.
“Everyone, Democrat and Republican, should be proud of our elected officials in Washington and the meetings that we had,” Smathers said. “I think I’m cautiously optimistic that by Dec. 20 we’ll have a nice Christmas present for the deserving people of Western North Carolina.” g
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