The North Carolina House voted along party lines Wednesday to override a veto on a bill that shifts power from newly-elected Democrats, namely Gov.-elect Josh Stein and Attorney General-elect Jeff Jackson.
Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill last month. It allocates $227 million in state funding for a Helene relief package, changes campaign finance laws, and shifts power over the Utilities Commission and State Board of Elections from the governor’s office to Republican-held offices.
The bill also limits Jackson’s ability to join lawsuits or take actions that oppose the legislature’s position on an issue. That limitation might also extend to briefs, such as the brief Stein filed in Duke Energy’s 2024 Carbon Plan. Jackson has said it would hamper his ability to advocate for the state.
“We need to help people get their lives back,” said House Democrat Robert Reives, “That’s what we should have been doing today. That’s what we should have done a month ago.”
Republican representatives Mike Clampitt, Karl Gillespie and Mark Pless originally voted against the relief package in November. All three represent districts affected by Helene.
During a Helene relief committee meeting that preceded the vote, Clampitt asked if these relief packages included business grants for business owners who are “underwater with loans” already. About one-third of funds appropriated for Helene relief to date went to loan programs, including $50 million for short-term loans, called bridge loans. Clampitt said many businesses he represented did not meet the eligibility requirements for losses needed for state loans.
Relief packages to date have not included direct business grants, including The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 – Part III, a sticking point for representatives on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. Julia Mayfield from Buncombe County.
Members of political advocacy groups spoke at a press conference held by House Democrat Marcia Morey before the legislature convened to protest the 132-page S.B. 382, calling it political maneuvering.
“Despite being titled ‘hurricane relief,’ 119 pages of the bill are filled with provisions unrelated to hurricane relief,” said Ann Webb, policy director at Common Cause North Carolina. “It is especially shameful that legislative leaders are trying to impose these harmful changes by tying them to crucially needed disaster relief.”
The veto override is one of the final acts of this legislature. New members will be sworn in next month, and Republicans will no longer have their veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers. One issue they’re sure to face: more hurricane relief funding.
During the proceedings, Republican Rep. Dudley Greene from Avery County spoke in favor of the bill:
“To say we’re not doing anything … we’ve done it,” Greene said. “And we continue to do it. We’ve allocated money that hasn’t had time to be spent yet.”
The General Assembly appropriated $877 million in the first two relief packages, though much of that money has not reached its final destination yet.
The Office of State Budget & Management estimated that current funding from federal, state and private sources will fall $17.8 billion short of the financial impact to western North Carolina and what residents need to recover.
“The situation has not gotten any better with newer data or newer data sources,” said Kristin Walker, the state budget director.
