North Carolina HB 863: Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part 1(b).

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 863

Short Title: Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part 1(b). (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Prather, Ager, and Turner (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 10, 2025
*H863-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO STATE AGENCIES FOR HURRICANE HELENE 2
UNMET NEEDS FOR DISASTER RECOVERY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
5
PART I. APPROPRIATIONS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA HURRICANE 6
HELENE RECOVERY 7
SECTION 1. There is appropriated from the Savings Reserve established in 8
G.S. 143C-4-2 the sum of five hundred eighty-two million two hundred twenty-nine thousand 9
seven hundred fifty dollars ($582,229,750) in nonrecurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year 10
to provide funds for unmet needs from Hurricane Helene, as follows: 11
(1) One hundred seven million dollars ($107,000,000) to the Department of 12
Commerce for the following purposes: 13
a. One hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) to Appalachian 14
Community Capital Corporation in partnership with the Dogwood 15
Health Trust for a grant program in accordance with Part III of this act. 16
b. Seven million dollars ($7,000,000) to the Rural Economic 17
Development Division for the Creating Outdoor Recreation 18
Economies (CORE) Program. 19
(2) One hundred five million dollars ($105,000,000) to the Housing Finance 20
Agency for the following purposes: 21
a. Fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) for affordable housing grants to 22
units of local government in the affected area to incentivize 23
high-quality, resilient, affordable housing. This funding may also be 24
used by recipients to repair rental units and shelters for disaster 25
victims. Each unit of local government may apply for a grant not to 26
exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000). 27
b. Twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) for homeowner and renter 28
unmet needs, including immediate minor repairs and needs that are not 29
FEMA-eligible. 30
c. Twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) for mortgage and utility 31
assistance. 32
d. Ten million dollars ($10,000,000) for housing stabilization services 33
and financial assistance for homeless populations. 34

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 863-First Edition
(3) One hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) to the Department of State 1
Treasurer for grants to units of local government for revenue replacement. 2
(4) Fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) to the Department of Natural and Cultural 3
Resources for the following purposes: 4
a. Twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) for the Parks and 5
Recreation Trust Fund established under G.S. 143B-135.56 for State 6
parks restoration and rebuilding grants. 7
b. Twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) for the Land and Water 8
Fund for flood abatement and water quality protection grants. 9
(5) One hundred twenty-seven million four hundred twenty-three thousand five 10
hundred dollars ($127,423,500) to the Department of Agriculture and 11
Consumer Services for the following purposes: 12
a. Seventy-five million dollars ($75,000,000) to the Division of Soil & 13
Water Conservation for streambank stabilization and stream 14
restoration. 15
b. Twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) to divide equally among food 16
banks in the affected area. Of these funds, ten million dollars 17
($10,000,000) shall be used to buy food from local farms. 18
c. Sixteen million seventy-three thousand five hundred dollars 19
($16,073,500) for the Forest Service for fire season preparation, 20
including equipment, and on-call and overtime pay. 21
d. Twelve million five hundred thousand dollars ($12,500,000) to the 22
Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund for 23
working farms and forest preservation. 24
e. Three million three hundred fifty thousand dollars ($3,350,000) to the 25
North Carolina Forest Service for new hand crew units for wildfire risk 26
reduction for one year of program operation. 27
f. Five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) to the Community 28
Conservation Assistance Program for stormwater control in the French 29
Broad River watershed, consistent with the requirements of Article 73 30
of Chapter 106 of the General Statutes. 31
(6) Thirty-nine million two hundred thousand dollars ($39,200,000) to the 32
Department of Public Instruction for the following purposes: 33
a. Fourteen million dollars ($14,000,000) to each community college in 34
the affected area for small business centers. Each community college 35
shall receive one million dollars ($1,000,000) under this allocation. 36
b. Twenty-five million two hundred thousand dollars ($25,200,000) for 37
K-12 Summer Learning Programs to support 30 days of summer 38
instruction in the affected area. 39
(7) Twenty-six million