Cooper vetoes hurricane relief bill he calls a 'sham'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed a state “disaster relief” bill because he says the “legislation is a sham.”

Senate Bill 382 was passed last week by the Republican-controlled General Assembly. The bill contained $227 million in relief from the state’s reserves but ordered the money to remain unspent for now. The bill also included provisions that would weaken the powers of the incoming governor, attorney general and state superintendent. In the recent election, those positions were all secured by Democrats

With Republicans likely to lose their veto-proof majority in the next two-year legislative sessions, this week could be the last best chance for those lawmakers to enact laws containing sharp partisan changes. 

The Republican attempt to erode Democrats’ powers recalls similar measures passed in late 2016 that were designed to weaken Cooper, who was about to succeed Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. Those bills led to loud demonstrations in the Legislative Building and dozens of arrests.

Before the end of the current legislative session, the relief bill is still likely to be overwritten by the Republican-held General Assembly. That’s what happened last week when lawmakers overrode a veto for a bill that provides $436.5 million for private school vouchers.

The state-level disaster relief bill was needed because of a gap in recovery funding. Last week, state leaders overseeing disaster relief efforts testified before lawmakers. 

What was initially reported this fall as a $175 million shortfall for ongoing housing projects in the eastern part of the state grew to a request of more than $220 million at Monday’s hearing. The money will go to the state’s Homeowner Recovery Program, which offers to “repair, rebuild, replace or elevate homes” of applicants affected by Matthew and Florence, according to ReBuild NC’s website.

Cooper established the office, also known as ReBuild NC, as a way to improve infrastructure in eastern North Carolina after it was hit by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018 — the two storms the office has been plagued by criticism for.

Senate Bill 382 did include an additional $50 million to address housing funds still sought after those storms. WCNC Charlotte investigated that shortcoming in October.

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Days after the heated testimony last week, Laura Hogshead, who served as the office’s chief operating officer for the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency since 2018, was no longer employed within the state’s Department of Public Safety as of Wednesday, according to Janet Kelly-Scholle, the office’s public information officer.

In an interview with WCNC Charlotte last week, signaled he was likely to veto the state-level relief bill.

“This bill really didn’t provide immediate and direct funding to western North Carolina,” Cooper said at the time. “It simply moved some money around, saying that they were going to appropriate it later, that leaves small businesses hanging that are really in need of direct grants. It leaves local governments hanging and to bill this as a disaster recovery legislation, it’s really a disaster in and of itself because it’s just a massive power grab.” 

In that interview, Cooper estimated Helene’s catastrophic impact at $53 billion. Helene was blamed for 103 deaths statewide. Cooper said he is seeking $25.5 billion in federal aid to rebuild critical infrastructure, including roads and bridges that were washed out, as well as public water systems that were knocked offline for weeks. During the interview, Cooper emphasized the need to build stronger, more resilient infrastructure ahead of future storms. 

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“These roads and bridges, and water systems and housing are going to have to be built back even stronger. That’s going to be more expensive,” Cooper said. “But we believe the investment is western North Carolina is worth it.” 

Cooper said he’s met with President Joe Biden and numerous federal agencies and provided information to President-elect Donald Trump’s team about the urgent need for relief in the mountains. He stressed that local governments cannot shoulder the load alone and called for a bipartisan approach to helping the region recover. 

“We’re hoping that they will make this a priority,” Cooper said. “It’s too important not to do this.”

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