More than $1 billion is needed immediately in western North Carolina to continue the post-Helene rebuilding efforts, Gov. Josh Stein said Monday, urging state legislative leaders to approve the funds.

His predecessor, former Gov. Roy Cooper, had asked the legislature for $4 billion to support Helene recovey efforts. The legislature never appeared to pay much heed to his request, instead passing a law in late 2024 that diverted billions of dollars more into private school tuition vouchers over the next several years.

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Cooper and Stein are Democrats; the legislature is led by Republicans. So far, the legislature has set aside roughly $1 billion on Helene relief, not all of which has been spent yet.

"I appreciate what the General Assembly has done so far, but it's time for us to step up and get them the money they need right now to rebuild," Stein said Monday, speaking from a food bank in Henderson County, south of Asheville. "We can't forget western North Carolina – and I will do everything in my power to ensure that the state shows up for them."

Helene did an estimated $60 billion in damage to western North Carolina — double the state government's entire annual budget and far exceeding previous records for storm damage in North Carolina.

The federal government is expected to spend at least several billion on recovery efforts; North Carolina leaders are hoping for $20 billion or more from FEMA and other federal agencies. But the bigger question for state leaders is how much to spend on top of the federal aid.

Legislative leaders have appeared to prefer a strategy of waiting to what the federal government will do before committing more state resources. That could allow the state to focus on complementing the federal relief efforts and avoiding duplication, even if it might also necessitate waiting longer.

Stein, however, said Monday there are "urgent rebuilding needs in western North Carolina" that need to be addressed immediately — and specifically by the state government, which can move more quickly than the federal government.

Some of the highlights of Stein's new budget request include:

  • $150 million for rebuilding homes.
    • $150 million for business grants.
      • $100 million to local city and county governments that are running out of money after the storm, to keep first responders paid and schools open.
        • $100 million for local farmers to clear their fields of debris, make repairs and protect against future flooding.
          • $75 million to repair or rebuild private roads and bridges, in addition to state-owned infrastructure.
            • $30 million to rebuild downtown areas and business districts.
              • $25 million for local residents for mortgage and rent assistance.
                • $20 million for local food banks.

                  This past week, legislative leaders opened their own 2025 session of the state General Assembly with a series of hearings on disaster recovery, focused on Helene relief as well as what's needed to finish rebuilding homes for hundreds of people still awaiting help after hurricanes Florence and Matthew the better part of a decade ago.

                  Republican lawmakers have criticized Cooper's administration for taking too long to help after those past storms, and some have said they want the state to move faster in response to Helene.

                  Democrats have countered that if Republican lawmakers want quick action on Helene, they should show it by approving more relief aid.

                  In a series of votes in November and December, the legislature voted to spend billions more on private school vouchers in the coming years while also a writing a new law that was officially called a Helene relief aid bill. But it mostly focused on stripping power away from Stein and other Democrats who won statewide offices in the 2024 elections.

                  That law did contain more than $270 million for Helene relief. But almost all of the money is being held in reserve, and not yet allowed to be spent. Lawmakers wrote that the money can't be touched until they take another vote — which has yet to be scheduled — to officially release the funds.

                  "The state legislature has failed to approve meaningful funding for western North Carolina while making plans to lock in billions of dollars for taxpayer-funded vouchers for unaccountable, unregulated private schools in the near future,” Cooper wrote in November as he was nearing the end of his term in office.