In Chimney Rock, then-Governor Roy Cooper and Mayor Peter O’Leary walk through Main Street to survey damage of the area caused from Hurricane Helene. (Pool photo/Paul Barker-Governor’s Office)
A proposed North Carolina bill would ban discrimination based on political affiliation during disaster response efforts.
House Bill 251 would restrict officials from considering a person’s political party, or political speech, in distributing disaster aid money or assistance in any form.
It stemmed from an incident in Florida after Hurricane Milton, in which a FEMA worker instructed her team to avoid canvassing at homes that had Trump flags. The Florida attorney general has sued the former FEMA head and the worker for discrimination.
“That hit the mark, that upset me,” said Rep. Kelly Hastings (R-Cleveland), who’s sponsoring the bill.
“This should never happen to someone, simply for exercising the most protected speech in the United States, political speech,” he added. There have been no documented incidents of such discrimination in North Carolina.
If the bill were to become law, it would impact any ongoing relief in western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, as well as future disaster aid.
And it would allow the state to charge anyone who violates it with a class I felony — punishable with up to two years in prison.
Under current North Carolina law, a number of classes are already protected in the provision of disaster relief, including race and sex.
The bill was advanced by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, with no opposition. It now heads to the House Emergency Management Committee.