(The Center Square) – The future of North Carolina’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency is in question after the Legislature recently learned of a $175 million budget shortfall that might actually be closer to a quarter-billion dollars.
At a meeting on Monday afternoon, lawmakers called the program “failed” and said they lack confidence to continue funding the program due to the office’s poor response to Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018). The question is pivotal as aid is distributed for Hurricane Helene, a storm that struck the state in September and from which this is the eighth week of recovery.
“You have proven that you don’t have the capability of being trusted with the taxpayers’ money,” Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, who chaired the meeting, said to Chief Operating Officer Laura Hogshead of the department, who was alongside Pryor Gibson of the governor’s office.
“No one,” Jones continued, “has any more sympathy or empathy for the people of this state that are affected by the storms than I do. I have to live with them every day … you don’t. You say you care, but you certainly haven’t shown it.”
Jones, like Rep. Danny Britt, R-Robeson, represent districts severely impacted by both storms. Britt called the situation “dire,” saying he has received many complaints from constituents. Other committee members expressed similar complaints.
Of the 4,200 families approved for new homes in North Carolina, Hogshead reported that only 2,800 of those have been completed. The office also owes approximately $37 million for projects already completed.
Hogshead said she accepted responsibility – “We were not watching the budget closely enough. I am responsible.” – and also refused to resign. Gibson, for his part, pleaded to be trusted on this next one.
Hogshead oversees the expenditure of hurricane recovery funds to build new homes for hurricane victims, specifically Matthew and Florence. Hogshead added that the program might need as much as $265 million to complete its projects, which she called the “worst case scenario.”
The budget shortfall was unknown publicly until Gov. Roy Cooper slipped it into a request of $3.9 billion in a 99-page proposal for Helene relief to western North Carolina.
Legislators were shocked that not only is the office requesting funding to continue its current operations, it is also hoping to expand to serve areas affected by the latest storm which has killed 103 in the state and 232 across seven.
“We don’t want to see another scenario where this drags out,” said Rep. Jake Johnson, R-Henderson. “We’ve got folks admitting fault for this being mismanaged, which doesn’t give us a lot of confidence or give my people confidence back home that it’s going to be handled right the next time.”
The Hurricane Response and Recovery Subcommittee, led by cochairmen Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, and Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, is a part of North Carolina’s Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations.
The office was requesting both additional funding, as well as permission to move $44 million from an undesignated account already allocated to the office.
Not only did many committee members express concerns about the timeline that homes are being completed, but also the quality of the work that has already been done.
The program is yet to provide assistance for families impacted by Helene, though Hogshead said she believes they are prepared.
“There are a lot of things that we have learned over the past six years,” she said. “I don’t want another institute to have to learn all those hard lessons again. And humbly, I would say we have learned them.”
Gibson, called by committee members Cooper’s “fix-it man,” testified alongside Hogshead. He agreed with her assessment, saying that the program should receive funding so it can continue to help families across North Carolina.
“Rebuilding homes after disasters is complicated, it’s expensive,” he said. “It was really an eye-opening experience.”
Committee members want to help victims of Helene as well as finish the job for those hit by Matthew and Florence. Consequences for the failings were in their sights.
“Somebody needs to be held accountable for these decisions,” said Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson.
