The storm ravaged city of Asheville as it appeared pre-Hurricane Helene (Photo: AshevilleNC.gov)
North Carolina legislators return to Raleigh this week for what will very likely be the final session of 2024. It’s also the final opportunity for lawmakers to appropriate funds that would help the residents of western North Carolina who are still struggling to recover in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. NC Newsline has written numerous stories about recovery efforts (read our latest here and here), but residents say much more support is needed, especially for small businesses and housing.
In the November legislative session, the third Helene relief bill was loaded down with unrelated items that stripped power from North Carolina’s incoming governor and attorney general, both Democrats. Republican leaders also used that relief package to move the State Board of Elections under the purview of the next state auditor, who will be a Republican.
The power grab bill earned Governor Roy Cooper’s veto just before Thanksgiving.
It’s unclear if the House and Senate will override Cooper’s veto this week, but what is clear is that western North Carolina needs help sooner and not later. NC Newsline spoke to state Senator Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe) about the needs of her region, the problems with Senate Bill 382, and what she hopes will happen next.
Some answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. Click here to listen to our full radio interview with Sen. Mayfield.
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NC Newsline: When lawmakers came back to Raleigh in November, the hope was that we’d see an additional round of substantial aid heading your way. But instead, what we got was a 131-page bill dealing with everything from gubernatorial powers to election law changes, and the relief provisions of the bill were pretty minimal. As we record this, Governor Cooper’s vetoed the bill. So probably not what you’d been hoping for, but perhaps you could give us your reaction to the legislation and what’s happened since.
Sen. Julie Mayfield: What we were hoping for was hoping for a more robust, not just an allocation of money, but actual appropriation of money. The $277 million is nothing to sneeze at. But to be clear it was just moved from the rainy-day fund to the Helene fund, and it was not allocated out. It was not appropriated, as we say. So that was very frustrating.
I think the continued frustration for me personally and for legislators out here is the continued resistance to create a program to make grants available to businesses. I understand that it’s precedential, that we’ve never done it before, that they don’t want to set that precedent. But as I said on the floor, unprecedented events call for unprecedented solutions. And our businesses need an infusion of cash that they cannot get any other way at this point.
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NC Newsline: And a loan is not going to do it — is that what you’re saying?
Sen. Julie Mayfield: A loan is not going to do it. There are some grant opportunities available now funded through the city, the county, local philanthropy, but they are not going to be enough. They’re already way oversubscribed and they’re relatively small. So, we can all just see the economy of Asheville, which is based on small locally owned businesses. We can just see it starting to evaporate.
In talking to one of my Republican colleagues who’s from Western North Carolina and expressing my ongoing frustration about this. His answer was, well, FEMA says that normally around 40% of businesses don’t survive these kinds of storms, these kinds of catastrophes, these kinds of disasters. And to me, that felt like an acceptance of, well, if 40% is okay, that’s normal. But to me, that’s not acceptable, especially when we can do something about it.
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NC Newsline: And the numbers we hear are just astounding, $53 billion in damages to western North Carolina. And you can see in that context where a couple hundred million, while welcome, would be pretty much a drop in the bucket.
Sen. Julie Mayfield: That’s true. And I also want to acknowledge that what Senator Hise said about this is a long process and it will need tons of money and the state can’t do it alone. And all of that is true. All of that is true. And we know federal dollars are coming, but they’re not here now.
And now is when we need, is when our businesses need that money. So it’s just continued frustration that people don’t seem to, they either don’t understand or they don’t want to understand. I don’t want to say they don’t care because I think they do. I just think they can’t wrap their heads around what our economy is like here in Asheville and what the impacts of this could be.
If we lose 40% of our businesses, that is astonishing. I don’t know how Asheville survives that.
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NC Newsline: Of course, lawmakers put this relatively modest amount of recovery money into Senate Bill 382. Did you have any inkling that this was what was going to happen — that they would provide a bill that would take away powers from the governor and the superintendent of public instruction and get rid of judges? It’s a pretty remarkable list of changes to law and reorganization of state government that’s contemplated in this legislation.
Sen. Julie Mayfield: I think I always expected something, especially if the election resulted in them losing the super majority in either of the chambers, which is what happened. So, I certainly expected something.
I did not expect the very, very tight leash on the attorney general. I didn’t realize that they didn’t appreciate the tens of millions of dollars that Josh Stein has brought to North Carolina by being part of national lawsuits. I certainly know that they didn’t appreciate the stance that the attorney general’s office took in the gerrymandering cases and in some others. But from my perspective, as an attorney and as someone who just believes in democracy, it is an egregious violation of the traditional separation of church and state. And my hope, of course, is that judges in North Carolina will agree with that.
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NC Newsline: Amazingly enough, the legislature will be back in session the Monday after Thanksgiving. Interestingly, three Republican lawmakers from Western North Carolina actually voted against this so-called recovery bill (Senate Bill 382) that was a Christmas tree with so many other objectionable provisions. But it seems like it might be quite a leap for them to actually vote to sustain the governor’s veto.
Sen. Julie Mayfield: I agree. As I understand that their objections to the bill were that it did not do enough for relief in Western North Carolina, not that they objected to any of the other provisions. If they vote to sustain the veto, then they will be voting to not get even the $277 million that was allocated. And I think they would rightfully look at that situation and think, well, that doesn’t advance our cause at all. So, I can’t imagine that they would vote to sustain the veto. Maybe they’re angry enough to send a message, but I think the repercussions for the three of those gentlemen would be far beyond whatever benefit it might give.
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NC Newsline: So, talk to us about the reality now on the ground. Remind people. It’s getting cold, right? Winter is here. There are still people who are not properly housed in western North Carolina.
Sen. Julie Mayfield: Anybody who has lost their home, either completely or because of damage, anybody who can’t live in their home, the FEMA resources here have been astonishing. Don’t listen to anybody who says otherwise. People are in hotels, people are in apartments, people are in Airbnb’s. FEMA is now transitioning to moving a lot of those folks who are in hotels, which was the truly temporary housing, trying to find them the longer-term temporary housing.
So, like the 18 months-to-two-years situation, if their house has to be rebuilt or for repairs or whatever, they are actively doing that. Some part of that is bringing trailers, travel trailers here. And if people can put a travel trailer on their property, they’ll do that. FEMA is happy to do that. If not, then there can be other accommodations.
There are people who are reluctant to leave their property because they are worried about looting and damage and the property is not secure. Obviously, if a travel trailer can be put there, that will solve that problem. If it can’t be, and of course, a number of these properties are in the floodplain. And there is a sort of a presumption against putting trailers in a floodplain for obvious reason. But there are also options, there are ways to work through that. But there are people who are reluctant to leave their homes and they are sleeping in tents, and that is unfortunate. I just want to encourage those people to take advantage of the resources that are available, secure the house, and move into a hotel or an apartment.
The other problem we have here is that we don’t have many apartments available. We don’t have many houses available. We don’t have a lot of flat land for FEMA to set up a trailer, you know, a large area with a bunch of trailers. That is not what happens here in Asheville and Western North Carolina. So, I think housing is going to continue to be a challenge. But FEMA is on it. The city and the county and FEMA and a number of nonprofits are working. They have a working group that is trying to tackle this and get everybody into safe, longer-term housing as quickly as possible.
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NC Newsline: It sounds to me like your basic final message to folks is “we’re not going to recover in western North Carolina to have anything like what we had before unless we start making significant direct investments and in helping businesses stay in business and in rebuilding the infrastructure that will allow them to continue.”
Sen. Julie Mayfield: Absolutely. That and the other piece is rental assistance. We have a huge hospitality workforce and others that have been out of work for two months now. And they cannot pay their rent. We know landlords are filing evictions. Some tenants are just leaving because they couldn’t even see the prospect of “when can I get back to work?” So, I know that a lot of people have left, and I worry very much for us as a city with a significant tourism economy. If we don’t have those workers when in fact the restaurants as they are reopening now, certainly as tourists start to come back, I don’t know that we’ll have the workforce.
And I do want to say Asheville is now open. We do have water. People should come through all your Christmas shopping here. Please, please help us recover. Every dollar that is spent here is helpful.