NC lawmakers pass $700M Helene bill, House members reject formal adjournment resolution

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A massive Hurricane Helene relief bill is one step closer to helping western North Carolina. It was a last minute push to get the $700 million package out the door before lawmakers adjourn for at least a few weeks.

“I just want to take a moment on behalf of all of western North Carolina to thank you all for your support as we continue to recover from this disaster,” Senator Ralph Hise, who represents that area, said.

It includes money for road repairs and other priorities, but no money for small business grants.

“We have consistently said small business grants were not something we would consider to be appropriate, we’ve not done small business grants for the east, we just didn’t feel like it was something we needed to do,” top Republican Senator Phil Berger said.

That’s getting pushback.

“I’m disappointed, once again we are not supporting the businesses in western North Carolina in the way I think we need to and the way the business leaders and the local elected officials in our region think we need to,” Senator Julie Mayfield, who represents western North Carolina, said.

In a floor speech, Senator Mayfield encouraged Senators and others to visit western North Carolina this summer to get tourism numbers up.

There were other last minute pushes. The House passed a ban on DEI in state agencies and a bill that would allow some people to carry guns in private schools. Both of those bills also now head to the governor.

It marks the end of this legislative session, at least for a few weeks, as one lawmakers strongly disagree on calling it productive. Senator Phil Berger says productivity isn’t measured by the number of bills that land on the Governor’s desk.

“That’s like a garden and you say I only have one carrot, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have a really good surplus,” top Democratic Senator Sydney Batch said. “I actually think that is a disingenuous argument to go ahead and convince the public that they are actually doing the people’s work when they are just infighting.”

Senators passed an adjournment resolution to formally adjourn the session, but House members declined to sign off on it. When asked why, House Speaker Destin Hall said the body didn’t want to limit themselves to only being able to discuss what Senators laid out in the resolution. He says if they come back in a few weeks and should pass bills through the committee, they want the flexibility to do that.

The session is temporarily adjourned with no budget. Lawmakers will be back at the end of July to continue those negotiations.