What the N.C. legislature should do right now for hurricane recovery

North Carolina needs a "paycheck protection program" and temporary hires immediately. Then, we need answers.

The General Assembly is slated to reconvene this week to pass a second funding bill for hurricane recovery. Presumably, this will replenish the North Carolina Office of Resiliency and Recovery, giving it the money it needs to set up operations for Hurricane Helene recovery.

Ideally, the legislation will take into account the lessons learned from the painfully slow response to Hurricane Florence in 2018 and systemic mismanagement of the recovery department.

We can’t use the same exact playbook this time. Since N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger says he’s “collecting suggestions from folks,” I have a few of them.

But the General Assembly also needs to start getting answers and demanding improvements in North Carolina’s disaster response. I lay out eight hearings the legislature’s investigatory committee should schedule before the end of 2024.

Short-term needs: 4 items the General Assembly should fund this week

North Carolina has roughly $4 billion in the rainy day fund to respond to Hurricane H…