After weeks of deliberations at the state legislature, Governor Josh Stein signed a new Helene recovery funding bill Wednesday night.
The $500-million bill will start the process of rebuilding homes, cleaning up debris and paying farmers for their crop losses. It will also help rebuild private roads and bridges and fund summer learning programs in western North Carolina schools.
The House and Senate resolved their disagreements about the funding package earlier this week. Representative Dudley Greene of Avery County worked with senators on the final bill.
He said, “We ended up with, I think, a very good compromise bill on this that we can send on. It is providing what is now our fourth round of relief.”
The total amount in the bill is about half of what the governor had requested. He said he'll soon be announcing a new Helene funding request.