Raleight, NC (AP) – Republican legislators of North Carolina presented this week their initial attempt this year of providing recovery funds for the historical floods of Hurricane Helene, proposing new expenses that totals less than half of what the new one requested Democratic governor Josh Stein.

A Chamber Committee reviewed, but did not vote on the expenditure proposal of $ 500 million, which would include money for some of the programs for which Stein sought funds on Monday for $ 1.07 billion in new recovery expenses.

The past fall, the state legislature allocated more than $ 900 million for relief and reconstruction efforts. A couple of hundreds of millions of additional dollars previously allocated for Helene’s relief purposes would help pay the Packages of Stein Republicans and the Chamber.

The legislative leaders of the Republican Party and Stein have made the promulgation of an early financing bill in the session of the General Assembly, instead of waiting until the traditional state budget of the state government that enters into force on July 1 Negotia, a priority. Stein and legislators expect to find more recovery funds at the end of this year.

“We know that no matter what appropriation we can do, it will never be enough,” representative John Bell of Wayne County, co -president of the Helene Chamber of Representatives, told colleagues. “But this is a starting point, with multiple invoices after this to follow.”

Competition proposals include $ 150 million to start a reconstruction and repair program at the home in the mountains while waiting for federal funds for the same purpose to regret. And both contain money, although in different quantities and portions, to help farmers already rebuild paths and private bridges.

North Carolina state officials reported more than 100 deaths per Helene with 74,000 homes and thousands of miles on damaged state and private roads. State officials projected that the storm of the end of September caused a record of $ 59.6 billion in damages and recovery needs. It is projected that the legislation of the Congress approved in December and other federal actions will provide more than $ 15 billion to North Carolina for reconstruction.

Bell told reporters that the $ 500 million figure could increase as Senate counterparts get involved in negotiations later. But he said that the Chamber would strategically act to maximize federal correspondence funds and to ensure that the State does not repeat errors of the previous hurricane recovery efforts.

Bell and others have cited problems with the program developed in the previous administration of Governor Roy Cooper to rebuild houses after Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018. The program still needs $ 217 million to finish the construction of more than 1,100 homes from the east of North Carolina.

The committee representative, Dudley Greene representative of Avery County, who suffered damage to Helene’s property, said that western North Carolina still does not know with certainty what money will be available for repairs and how it will be distributed.

“With luck, this is a first step to try to relieve part of that confusion,” Greene said.

The creation of a consensus plan will represent an early evidence of Stein’s relationship with Republican legislators, who control the legislature but lack a majority of veins after the November elections.

The Chamber Committee was expected to consider amendments next week, with a floor vote shortly after. The Republicans of the Senate presented their own draft disaster relief law of the position marker on Wednesday.

The Draft Law of the House of Representatives completely omits the Stein application of $ 150 million for two commercial subsidy programs designed to provide up to $ 75,000 to companies that suffered important economic losses and economic damage.

Many Republicans have previously expressed reservations about the State that provide direct subsidies to companies, instead of loans. Bell told reporters that a subsidy program could arise later in the invoice process.

The camera package also does not contain the application of $ 100 million of Stein to reward local governments in the mountains for lost or spent revenues or their appeal of $ 34 million to provide a summer school in the public school districts that lost the Less 15 days of instruction shortly after Helene’s uproar.

Stein said this week that funds are now needed to avoid delays in housing construction, more business closures and students who are academically.

Photo: debris left by floods fed by Hurricane Helene in Asheville. (Photo AP/Mike Stewart, Archive)

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Topics North Carolina Legislation