A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is pushing legislation to speed up assistance to victims of Hurricane Helene, the most destructive storm in state history.
Helene caused North Carolina $60 billion worth of damage and killed more than 100 people. But more than a year later, the state has received only a fraction of the disaster relief aid it has requested from the federal government.
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The state has requested at least $19.2 billion from the federal government. At the end of December, only $2.4 billion had found its way to the state, and another $4.6 billion had been awarded by the federal government but hadn't been dispersed, according to the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina. The state, meanwhile, has spent $3.1 billion of its own money on disaster recovery.
A chunk of the state’s overall federal request — about $13.2 billion — was requested from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to Gov. Josh Stein’s office. But less than one-third of that had been received by the end of last year.
U.S. Reps. Don Davis, a Greene County Democrat, and Chuck Edwards, a Henderson County Republican, say they are ramping up pressure on their House colleagues to approve a bill that aims to streamline the FEMA approval and disbursement process. Davis and Edwards say 50 members of Congress have signed a letter urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on what they have titled the “Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025.”
The bill seeks to speed federal disaster assistance by reforming FEMA’s Public Assistance program by increasing upfront financial support for state and local governments, clarifying reimbursement requirements and accelerating long-term recovery timelines. The bill also seeks to create a single, universal application that allows survivors to complete a simplified form when seeking aid.
“We have to speed this up. This has been delayed. Slow down. And we're not helping families,” said Davis in an interview with WRAL Friday.
The bill also seeks to strengthen disaster preparedness and resilience through provisions that support utility resiliency, enable flexible building codes, and provide resources to help homeowners reinforce existing structures against future disasters.
“North Carolina families and small businesses recovering from Helene need action, not onerous red tape,” Davis said in a statement. “Survivors who have lost their homes or businesses due to natural disasters need the fastest available support.”
Edwards added: “We’ve seen the importance of well-run emergency management and disaster relief services and the impact they have on getting communities back on their feet. The FEMA Act implements what disaster-impacted communities like ours have been asking for: less red tape, clearer rules, and faster help.”
The bill was filed in July but hasn’t advanced in the House since September, when it was ordered to be amended by a transportation committee.
The seven members of North Carolina’s House delegation who haven’t signed the discharge petition include U.S. Reps. Richard Hudson and Virginia Foxx, two of the state’s most influential Republicans. Hudson chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Foxx holds senior leadership positions. Both typically align with House leadership, which controls whether bills are brought to the floor.
Johnson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Davis and Edwards can force a vote if 218 members support their effort.
President Donald Trump has been vocal against FEMA, saying before his second term, it moved too slowly for the American people, and the White House says it is fixing the response.
In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order to evaluate FEMA’s ability to address disasters and make recommendations to the president on how to improve the response. He then created the FEMA Review Council and put Michael Whatley, U.S. Senate Republican Candidate, on it.
Jonathan Felts, a spokesman for Whatley, said Whatley “supports efforts to make federal disaster management more efficient and looks forward to the FEMA Review Council presenting its report to the White House in the near future.”
The push for reforms follows months of escalating criticism from North Carolina leaders. Stein, the Democratic governor, says FEMA delays are slowing housing repairs, infrastructure rebuilding and reimbursements to local governments.
The state’s senior U.S. senator, Republican Thom Tillis, has criticized FEMA and Department of Homeland Security leaders over disaster response delays. Last month, Tillis called for the firing of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA.
Following a $233 million reimbursement for Helene recovery given to North Carolina, Tillis said the money “is overdue.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sen. Ted Budd, another Republican, has criticized DHS for not approving money sooner, but recently praised Noem for working to more regularly approve reimbursements for Helene and past disaster recovery projects.
“There is still more work to be done to make the people of Western North Carolina whole in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation,” Budd said in a statement, “and the federal government must continue to do its part.”
WRAL News reported in December 2025 that the leader of the North Caorlina Association of County Commissioners, Kevin Leonard, said he believes the federal government is intentionally slowing down the process to get more funds.
“It’s like they doubled down on increasing regulations that create increased red tape for reimbursements for the people in our communities, for our local governments,” Leonard said.