Governor Roy Cooper today applauded news that Congress passed legislation that includes critical funding for Hurricane Florence recovery. Congressional leaders have indicated that North Carolina will receive approximately $1 billion of the $1.68 billion included for disaster recovery in the bill.
Governor Cooper sent a letter to U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis on September 17 requesting their “urgent help in securing resources” to respond to Florence. That letter can be read HERE.
“We appreciate the working relationship with the Congressional delegation in both the House and Senate as we continue to realize the devastating impact of this storm on North Carolina’s people, infrastructure, homes, businesses and farmers,” said Governor Cooper. “This initial federal funding will get us started in the recovery process.”
This initial funding will come to North Carolina through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and was included as part of combined legislations reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration. Governor Cooper and Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry have been in talks with HUD leadership to increase North Carolina’s flexibility to get HUD recovery dollars to families in need as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The bill also includes a critical fix to ease duplication of benefits rules that will allow more North Carolinians to receive funding through the CDBG-DR program. Currently, anyone who was approved for home repair money from the Small Business Administration (SBA) in the wake of Hurricane Matthew has that loan counted against them in the CDBG-DR awards process. The fix changes that rule and could open up more federal funding for almost 2,000 affected North Carolinians.
In the wake of a natural disaster, these SBA loans are not just used for businesses, but also homeowners making repairs to their damaged homes. Many who accept the loans are unaware that they will end up with years of loan repayments when it may be more financially beneficial to pursue CDBG-DR money that does not need to be repaid.
“I’m glad that Congress made this important fix to the rules that will help more North Carolinians access the funding they deserve to rebuild their homes and their lives,” added Governor Cooper.