New NC Gov. Josh Stein signs 5 executive orders on Helene. Here's what they do

A day after being sworn in as North Carolina governor Wednesday, Democrat Josh Stein traveled to Asheville to announce his first executive orders, sending a signal that he plans to prioritize Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.

The storm devastated Western North Carolina in late September, displacing many residents. Now Stein’s orders will soften regulations, including for temporary housing units.

Several Western North Carolina officials, including Republican Rep. Kevin Corbin and Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, both of whom serve as chairs of the Rebuilding Western North Carolina Advisory Committee, were in attendance at the announcement on Thursday at the Buncombe County Government Administration building in Asheville.

Stein created the bipartisan rebuilding committee in November to help advise his work to address the communities affected by Helene, according to a prior news release.

“The needs facing this region are vast and require attention. I pledge to do everything in my power as governor to accelerate recovery and the rebuilding of a more resilient region for the long haul,” Stein said Thursday.

“That’s why today, on my first day as governor, I signed five executive orders dedicated to keeping people in Western North Carolina safe and moving forward,” he said.

The five orders are the following, according to Stein:

Temporary housing units

Stein said that Helene damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of housing units throughout the region and more than 12,000 people remain displaced.

“As we are in the coldest months of the year, it is urgent that people have warm and safe places to live now,” Stein said.

The first order provides a limited waiver on state procurement regulations to quickly increase the supply of temporary housing units on people’s properties, allowing residents to remain safely in their communities during the winter while rebuilding, Stein said.

Stein said the state’s department of administration, in partnership with the Division of Emergency Management at the state’s department of public safety, has been directed “to cost effectively” find vendors and get trailers deployed “now.” Meanwhile, the traditional procurement process is underway so that, in 30 to 60 days, the state can transition to those contracts, he said.

According to the executive order, the secretary of the state’s department of public safety is authorized to purchase up to 1,000 temporary housing units.

Stein said these temporary housing units are 100% funded by the federal government through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

He said the state would lead the efforts with FEMA reimbursing costs. This can occur because President Joe Biden granted former Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for 100% reimbursement of initial expenses for the first six months, Stein said.

Repairing private roads and bridges

The second order addresses the need to repair private roads and bridges, with Helene estimated to have damaged more than 8,000 of these, said Stein.

Stein said he told the director of the emergency management division, William Ray, “to quickly procure the services of bridge and road builders to get to work repairing” this critical infrastructure. This will also be done through the temporary waiving of procurement regulations.

The order says the governor delegates his authority to “establish emergency assistance funds” to the director of the emergency management division to administer state assistance for the repair of private roads and bridges.

This executive order, along with the one on temporary housing units, received agreement from the Council of State, which is the state’s body of 10 elected executive officers.

Newly elected Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek said to Stein, in response to the executive orders on roads and bridges and on temporary housing units, that he concurred with the orders but “we intend to hold your office accountable,” according to a news release from Boliek’s office.

Citing his role as state auditor and Senate Bill 382, a law which requires the auditor’s office to conduct a financial and performance audit of the troubled North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), he wrote, “I will be instructing my office to account for every dollar spent in fulfillment of these orders and to report on the effectiveness and efficiency of these actions.” SB 382 also granted Boliek new powers over the State Board of Elections.

He said that his office would be asking for specifics on where the money to purchase the 1,000 units would come from, how much it would cost to purchase those units, where the emergency assistance funds would come from and more.

Western NC recovery office

Another executive order establishes a dedicated team within Stein’s office to coordinate state government efforts in response to the emergency. The new Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC) will focus exclusively on these efforts, Stein said.

The order also creates a Division of Community Revitalization within the state’s Department of Commerce to oversee long-term housing construction and community resilience initiatives.

Asked about NCORR and its role in rebuilding Western North Carolina, Stein said the agency would continue to focus on recovery efforts in Eastern North Carolina. He said the newly established Division of Community Revitalization will take charge of long-term rebuilding efforts in Western North Carolina..

State employee community service

Another order directs the State Office of Human Resources to allow state employees to use 16 additional hours of community service leave to help meet the needs of people in Western North Carolina, Stein said.

“I encourage state employees to continue volunteering their time with local governments and nonprofit organizations to help their neighbors in need,” Stein said.

Advisory committee

A final order formalizes the already-established advisory committee on Western North Carolina recovery.

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