Weekly Legislative Update

The federal government will foot more of the bill as Western North Carolina continues to recover from the remnants of Hurricane Helene, which devastated much of the region this fall.

Democratic President Joe Biden on Friday approved the state’s request that the federal government pay for 90% of the costs for some projects and services aiming to help North Carolinians recover from the storm, after an initial period in which the federal government is paying for 100% of the costs.

Biden approved the federal government’s 100% “cost-share” for the recovery efforts in early October. Before Biden amended the declaration again on Friday, the federal share was set to drop to 75% in late March, or 180 days after Sept. 25. That date marked the start of the “incident period” for Helene under Biden and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s major disaster declaration for the storm, issued Sept. 28.

There are three types of projects and support eligible for the increased funding from the federal government:

• Public assistance, which reimburses state and local governments and some nonprofit and private groups for efforts such as removing debris and repairing roads, bridges, public buildings, and other infrastructure.
• Hazard mitigation, which provides funding for projects during communities’ recovery and rebuilding processes that seek to reduce or eliminate future damages from disasters.
• Assistance for other needs, including medical care, funeral costs, the replacement of personal property, and other expenses approved by FEMA.

The increased cost-share Biden approved Friday will see the federal government pay a larger portion of the costs of FEMA-approved projects long-term. That will decrease the costs of the eligible projects to the state, according to a Saturday news release from Gov. Roy Cooper’s office.

“As we continue into the recovery phase of this disaster, there will be a significant cost to rebuilding Western North Carolina communities and to assist survivors with recovering from Helene,” state Emergency Management Director Will Ray said in the release. “The increased federal cost share provided will allow for state dollars to go further, which will expedite many recovery and hazard mitigation projects as we go into 2025.”

Cooper, a Democrat, said in the release that a “complete recovery” from Helene’s devastation “will require an investment of billions of dollars.” Cooper said Biden approving the increased cost-share from the federal government “is a tremendous boost to our efforts.”

“We will continue working to get more funding into Western North Carolina so we can rebuild our communities in stronger and more resilient ways,” Cooper said. Friday’s announcement from Biden comes as homeowners and renters in the Western North Carolina counties designated in FEMA’s disaster declaration for Helene have one month left to apply for federal assistance from the agency, with the Jan. 7, 2025, deadline approaching. Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina are also eligible.

Financial assistance from FEMA is available to cover the costs of displacement, basic home repairs, personal property losses, and other uninsured or underinsured disaster-caused expenses. The quickest way to apply for assistance is at DisasterAssistance.gov. The application is also available using the FEMA App on mobile devices or by calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362.

This spring, Charlotte officials told the town of Matthews it can’t build both the Red Line commuter trail to Lake Norman and the Silver Line light rail from uptown to Matthews under a proposed funding formula that limits spending on trains to 40% of the revenue from a new, one-penny sales tax.

But an internal document obtained by Transit Time shows the Charlotte Area Transit System could build both train lines if it spent just slightly more money — 44% of new sales tax revenue — on rail transit. At four hundredths of a penny on the sales tax rate, that comes out to about $13 million a year.

The city’s annual general fund budget is nearly $900 million. The CATS annual budget is $260 million. The one-cent sales tax would generate about $360 million in its first year.

To be sure, building the Silver Line to Matthews and the Red Line would involve trade-offs: CATS wouldn’t build the Silver Line west to the airport and would also cut other projects like the streetcar expansion in order to build the Silver Line to Matthews and the Red Line simultaneously.

The document, created in May by a CATS consultant, InfraStrategies, bolsters Matthews’ contention that the Silver Line East train can be saved by allocating more sales tax money to rail transit or by shortening the length of the line to save money.

The city has mostly avoided discussions of alternate ways of building the transit plan or comparing detailed cost estimates to weigh different options against the projected revenues. For example: Shorten the Silver Line by a mile or two and then increase the amount of rail funding to, say, 42.5% of sales tax revenue in order to build the Red Line simultaneously. The city could also contribute some money from its general fund, which is how it built both segments of the Gold Line streetcar.

The InfraStragies final models were presented to Charlotte officials, Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio and the managers of the six Mecklenburg towns during closed-door meetings in May. Some of the information was shared with the Metropolitan Transit Commission at an Oct. 23 meeting.

In an effort to get support from Republican lawmakers in Raleigh who favor spending on roads, the managers agreed in the spring on a funding formula that would spend 40% of new revenue on roads and no more than 40% of new revenue on trains. The rest 20% could be spent on other transit, like buses.

It’s unclear if the 40-40-20 split was a mandate from Raleigh, or just the city’s effort to address the priorities of GOP leaders. Charlotte has made no formal presentation to the General Assembly about its tax plan. City leaders had hoped that the General Assembly would consider the proposal this year, but that now seems unlikely. They’re hoping a referendum could be placed on the ballot in Mecklenburg in the fall of 2025.

Only two months after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina in the worst natural disaster to hit the region in modern history, the state’s recovery efforts have become bogged down by political infighting and, critics say, overshadowed by other priorities.

It’s a contrast with Washington, where the federal government’s efforts have so far remained mostly above the partisan fray. Democratic President Joe Biden recently requested $100 billion in new funding for disaster recovery in North Carolina and other states hit by Helene or other large storms in recent months.

A government shutdown is looming before the end of the year, with Congress’ most recent spending plan ending on Dec. 20. A new spending plan, which would have to be approved to avert a shutdown, could include the disaster relief aid.

State officials say Helene was by far the most damaging storm in North Carolina history, doing $53 billion worth of destruction. So far the state legislature has approved $877 million in relief aid, equal to about 1.6% of the total estimated damage. Insurance companies are also expected to cover a portion of the damage, but state officials say nearly all of the homes damaged or destroyed lacked flood insurance.

Some local politicians defend the state’s spending levels; others criticize it as nowhere near enough. But all agree on one key fact: No matter how much North Carolina spends on Helene relief, the federal government is going to end up handling the vast majority of the response.

The main question for many state and local leaders, at this point, is exactly how much the federal government will agree to.

“Far as I'm aware, there's only one entity in the world that can cover a $50 billion bill, and that is the U.S. Congress,” said state Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, a top state budget writer whose district was among the hardest-hit parts of the state. “I’m asking them to do so, and I’m asking them to do it here.”

“They’ve made a lot of priorities about foreign entities,” Hise continued. “They’ve made a lot of priorities about immigration and others. I’m asking them to make it a priority to rebuild the state of North Carolina.”

As members of Congress are gearing up for their final sprint toward the end of this session and the year-end spending plan, Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov.-elect Josh Stein spent part of late November in Washington meeting with federal officials and members of Congress, including North Carolina U.S. Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis.

Cooper and Stein are Democrats; Budd and Tillis are Republicans. There’s some speculation that Tillis and Cooper could soon wind up as political opponents, when Tillis comes up for reelection in 2026. But the recent meetings seem to have gone well as the officials put aside their partisan differences to get more money diverted to North Carolina than Biden’s proposed $100 billion plan could likely afford. That plan targets storm recovery in a dozen or more states; Cooper says North Carolina alone needs $25 billion from the federal government.

Cooper recently met with Biden in the Oval Office to deliver that message.

Biden later wrote on social media that recovery efforts and decisions will soon be up to President-elect Donald Trump. “You've got my word that we will work with my successor's transition team to explain the urgency of recovery efforts in North Carolina,” Biden wrote.

Tillis and Budd see Biden’s plan as a starting point. That could indicate they’d support further funding, or a different approach as Congress finalizes the appropriations bill. Beyond the spending totals, they’ve each also called for a fresh examination of how the federal government handles future storms.

Daniel Keylin, a senior advisor to Tillis, told WRAL that when it comes to disaster relief a key priority will be going after regulations seen as slowing down aid or adding extra headaches to local leaders. “The devastation left behind by Helene is something we have never seen this far inland, and the federal disaster response is not designed to adequately respond to the unprecedented need in Western North Carolina,” Keylin said.

Budd’s office agrees. “President Trump has a demonstrated record of cutting regulations and red tape, so Senator Budd is optimistic that he will restart those efforts, especially at FEMA,” Budd spokesman Curtis Kalin told WRAL.

The first of December marks more than just the countdown to Christmas — it’s also the day a wave of new laws take effect in North Carolina. Passed by the GOP-led legislature, these laws bring changes ranging from new requirements for sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration agents and restrictions on the use of masks for health and safety reasons to changes in juvenile justice laws.

Here’s a closer look at the laws that went into effect December 1:

House Bill 237: “Various Criminal and Election Law Changes.” This GOP-drafted bill was highly controversial when debated in June, drawing criticism from Democratic lawmakers, some state residents who protested at the General Assembly, and civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union. The bill revises a state law provision allowing people to wear masks in public for health and safety reasons, limiting it to “medical or surgical grade” masks and only for “preventing the spread of contagious disease.” It also permits law enforcement and property owners or occupants to require individuals to remove their masks. Previously, law enforcement could only require mask removal during traffic stops or when there was “reasonable suspicion or probable cause” in a criminal investigation.

The bill increases penalties for obstructing roads during protests or blocking emergency vehicle access. It also introduces campaign finance changes that significantly alter laws governing political committees and corporate campaign contributions. Most sections of the bill are already in effect, except for the provisions on emergency vehicles and road obstruction, which took effect Dec. 1. Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill, arguing it created “a gaping loophole for secret, unlimited campaign money in the middle of an election year” and “removes protections and threatens criminal charges for people who want to protect their health by wearing a mask.

The veto was overridden by the GOP supermajority. Republicans have defended the campaign finance provisions, saying they level the playing field for party funding. They also argued the mask provisions were necessary to prevent individuals from using masks to conceal their identities during protests or while committing crimes.

House Bill 10: “Require ICE Cooperation & Budget Adjustments.” Another highly controversial bill, House Bill 10 combines new cooperation requirements for sheriffs with federal immigration authorities and allocates hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for private school vouchers. The bill, which initially focused solely on immigration, requires sheriffs to comply with immigration detainers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for individuals who have been arrested and are believed to be in the country illegally.

These detainers request that sheriffs hold suspects for up to 48 hours, allowing ICE agents time to take custody of them. State law already mandates that sheriffs attempt to determine the legal status of individuals arrested for certain offenses and notify ICE if they are unable to verify the individual’s status.

After failed budget negotiations, other provisions were added to HB 10 as part of a “mini-budget” compromise bill. These include nearly $463 million in funding to clear the waitlist for private school vouchers, known as Opportunity Scholarships. The legislature expanded the voucher program to all families, regardless of income, creating a waitlist of about 55,000 families.

House Bill 834: “Juvenile Justice Modifications.” This bill requires that 16- and 17-year-olds who commit certain felonies be tried first as adults in the state’s superior courts. Currently, these teenagers are initially tried in juvenile court after a petition is filed, and are only transferred to superior court after probable cause is established or they are indicted.

Cooper vetoed the bill, stating, “Most violent crimes, even when committed by teenagers, should be handled in adult court. However, there are cases where sentences would be more effective and appropriate to the severity of the crime for teenagers if they were handled in juvenile court, making communities safer. This bill makes this important option highly unlikely and begins to erode our bipartisan ‘Raise the Age’ law we agreed to four years ago.”

The legislature overrode the veto. The “Raise the Age” law, passed in 2017, shifted 16- and 17-year-olds accused of misdemeanors and low-level felonies from the adult system to the juvenile justice system. Lawmakers in favor of the bill have argued that it is a procedural change designed to allow the juvenile justice system to function more efficiently. Most of the bill took effect Sunday except for some sections including one on forensic evaluation reports.

House Bill 198: “DOT Legislative Changes.” This law makes several changes to transportation regulations, including a requirement that vehicle identification numbers (VINs) or other vehicle identifying information appear on toll bills. Processing fees for unpaid tolls are increased from $6 to $9. Additionally, the annual cap on late fees per bill is raised from $48 to $72.

The law also allows billboard companies to cut down more trees along state highways — up to 500 feet before a sign, compared to the previous limit of 350 feet — and removes protections for redbud trees. Cooper vetoed this bill saying “protecting North Carolina’s beauty should be a top priority, but this legislation allows tree cutting and destruction of native plants around billboards.” The veto was overridden. Several provisions of the bill, including those related to VINs, toll fees and tree removal, have already taken effect. Other sections, including one repealing regulations for unmanned aircraft systems, such as drones, took effect Dec. 1.

House Bill 600: “Regulatory Reform Act of 2023.” This law reduces water quality requirements for the MVP Southgate pipeline project and includes provisions that could limit how the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality reviews hog farm permits. House Bill 600 spans 46 pages, with all sections of the bill taking effect in December unless otherwise specified. Cooper vetoed the bill, saying it “will result in dirtier water, discriminatory permitting and threats to North Carolina’s environment. It also undoes a significant policy to promote fairness in state contracting for historically underutilized businesses as it blocks efforts to encourage diverse suppliers for state purchases, rules that would save taxpayer dollars and help businesses grow.” The legislature overrode the veto. GOP sponsors of the bill described it as “a common sense” measure, arguing that it will reduce regulatory burdens.

Senate Bill 166: “2024 Building Code Regulatory Reform.” This bill includes various changes to building codes, such as modifying insulation requirements and prohibiting the state from mandating that electric water heaters be elevated. Additionally, the bill reorganizes the NC Building Code Council, reducing its size from 17 to 13 members, with appointments split between the governor, House speaker and Senate president pro tempore. It also alters council membership requirements, removing the need for two members to be licensed architects and general contractors.
Cooper vetoed this bill, saying, “By limiting options for energy efficiency and electric vehicles, this legislation prevents North Carolina’s building code from adopting innovations in construction and mobility that save consumers money." That veto was overridden.

The bill includes various effective dates. Effective in December is a provision that establishes time limits for applications submitted to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality for water distribution systems that seek to construct or alter public water systems.

Senate Bill 445: “Recording of Court Filed Documents.” SB 445 includes provisions exempting court-filed documents from certain formatting requirements for paper documents submitted to the register of deeds. It also modifies the appeals process for small claims, changing the start of the appeal period to when a judgment is “rendered” instead of when it is “entered.”

Cooper vetoed this saying it “creates legal ambiguity regarding when eviction orders become effective and may harm low-income individuals by making it harder for them to appeal as indigent in small claims court.”

Here’s a look at other laws — which were not vetoed — that have sections already in effect and others that kicked in Dec. 1:

House Bill 900: “Certain Cooperative Innovative High School Partners/Regulate Tobacco Products” allowed Wake County to replace St. Augustine’s University as the higher education partner for its two leadership academies, the Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy and Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy. It also includes various provisions aimed at curbing youth access to products containing tobacco, nicotine and other related substances.

House Bill 250: “Public Safety/Other Changes” makes changes to death investigations under the oversight of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and adds Tianeptine to the state’s controlled substance list. It also allows people with no more than one prior driving while impaired (DWI) conviction within the preceding seven years to get a limited driving privilege. To get back their driving privileges, they would need an ignition interlock device — which requires a person to breathe into the equipment — placed on their car.

House Bill 971: “Human Trafficking Changes” makes various changes to trafficking laws including increasing the penalty for a first offense of soliciting another for prostitution. House Bill 495: “Revise Money Laundering/ Retail Crime” criminalizes money laundering in North Carolina and revises laws related to theft from retail establishments.

House Bill 199: “DMV Proposed Legislative Changes” makes various changes to motor vehicle laws and requires the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to make a plan for issuing a digital version of a driver’s license. That doesn’t take effect until July 1, 2025.

Senate Bill 355: “North Carolina Farm Act of 2024” includes changes to various agricultural laws, addressing topics such as shellfish leasing, agronomic soil testing and horse boarding.

House Bill 591: ”Modernize Sex Crimes” establishes offenses related to sexual extortion and updates offenses related to sexual exploitation of minors.

House Bill 593: “Various General Local Laws” changes laws related to the election of sanitary district boards.

Senate Bill 607: “Regulatory Reform Act of 2024.” includes changes to laws on a variety of topics, such as fisheries harvest reporting, permitting requirements, and the sale and resale of event tickets.