Gov.-elect Josh Stein addresses supporters in Raleigh on Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
When Attorney General Josh Stein is sworn in as governor in January, he’ll inherit the largest disaster recovery effort in the history of North Carolina.
Efforts to rebuild communities in the mountains following Hurricane Helene are underway — and will continue in the coming months as billions of state and federal dollars flow into the west. A spokesperson for Stein’s transition team said hurricane response was a “top priority” for the governor-elect.
“Our office has been in close contact with Gov. Cooper’s office,” spokesperson Laura Brewer said in an email to NC Newsline, adding that Stein will “continue to be in western NC throughout the transition period.”
Cooper’s office echoed that sentiment, pledging a “smooth transition to the new administration” and “a strong foundation for long-term recovery from Hurricane Helene.”
“We are confident Gov. Stein will continue the critical work of helping Western North Carolina build back from this devastating storm,” spokesperson Ben Conroy said in a statement.
Stein has already signaled how he plans to approach several major aspects of the recovery effort.
He sees infrastructure repairs — water and sewer lines, as well as schools — as a top priority. He’s emphasized the need for temporary housing while permanent structures are rebuilt. And like Cooper, he is in favor of aiding small businesses through grants, in addition to loans like those approved by the General Assembly.
“There needs to be new appropriations and authorization from the federal government, which we will seek, but it can also come from the state,” Stein said in a news conference with Cooper on Oct. 28. “That can be a gap filling that the state – we have a little more flexibility with how our dollars can be spent.”
What those dollars are spent on, however, is up to the Republican-led legislature. By the time Stein takes office, they will have likely passed three aid packages — the latest of which will be debated next week, and likely total around $830 million.
“They’re not done, and I think they recognize they’re not done,” Stein said in an interview in October, shortly after lawmakers passed the second round of aid. “What we want to see is a significant investment in what people need, which is housing and small businesses.”
“So there’s still opportunity for them to address those needs on a meaningful basis,” he added. “And I look forward to working with them to do just that.”
Almost immediately after his win over Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Stein put the recovery in the west front and center. In his victory speech in Raleigh, he pledged to “show up for the people of western North Carolina, to help them rebuild safer and stronger than ever before.”
And among those leading Stein’s transition effort is Esther Manheimer, the mayor of Asheville. She will provide input in the coming “to help think about long term recovery,” according to the transition team.
Still, Stein is all but certain to receive scrutiny, like Cooper before him, from those skeptical of the government’s response out west. The state’s Helene efforts will be the subject of a Monday hearing by a joint House and Senate committee, c0-chaired by Republican leaders.