North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson has secured a second legal victory against FEMA to restore $200 million in disaster prevention funding.
On Friday, a judge granted Jackson’s motion to force the federal agency to reinstate its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. The court previously ruled in December that FEMA broke the law by canceling the program, but the Attorney General says the agency ignored that order.
Under the new order, FEMA must open new grant applications within 21 days and provide a clear timeline for existing project funding. The money funds critical disaster mitigation projects across the state.
Meanwhile, North Carolina Senator Ted Budd is teaming up with Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock on a new push to fix federal disaster relief.
The "Disaster Recovery Improvement Act" would create a special task force to cut through the red tape that often delays aid after major storms. For the first time, local governors and county commissioners would have a formal seat at the table to tell Washington exactly what’s broken in the system.
Senator Budd says the bill is a direct response to the "regulatory bottlenecks" that have slowed recovery efforts in Western North Carolina.
