RALEIGH — When Gov. Josh Stein took office in January, he inherited the fallout from one of the worst natural disasters in the state’s history.
The estimated $60 billion recovery from Hurricane Helene has been Stein’s “top priority as governor,” the Democrat told Carolina Public Press.
His initial days in office have shown it.
Stein’s first actions as governor were to sign a series of executive orders which created new offices in the executive branch dedicated to Helene recovery and made it easier for the state to procure temporary housing units and start repair work on private roads and bridges.
Later in March, Stein signed his first bill into law which appropriated more than $700 million to support hurricane victims.
This Friday marks Stein’s 100th day in office and he spoke with CPP about what he’s accomplished so far — and what he hopes to achieve over the remaining three years and 265 days of his first term.
Helene recovery not ‘fast enough’ for Stein
Stein thinks the state is “doing all the right things” when it comes to supporting Western North Carolina since Helene, but he is not satisfied with the pace of the recovery process.
He never will be.
“People have desperate needs. Businesses need support. Homeowners need homes. Local governments need to get their wastewater systems repaired. We need to fix our roads. We need to remove all the debris,” said Stein, 58. “The fact of the matter is these efforts take time, but I’m not satisfied with how fast it’s going because I know people aren’t satisfied because it can never go fast enough.”
Stein created new offices to focus solely on Helene-related matters in an effort to make the government response quicker and more efficient. One of those is the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina — also known as GROW NC — which connects state agencies with local, federal and nonprofit partners to coordinate recovery initiatives and keep them running smoothly.
The other new office is the Division of Community Revitalization, an offshoot of the state Commerce Department whose sole purpose is to administer a $1.4 billion federal grant for housing-related recovery efforts. That may seem like a lot of money, but it’s a fraction of the amount compared to the estimated $60 billion cost it will take for the state to fully recover.
Part of Stein’s job has been to rally both the General Assembly and Congress to allocate more relief funding to North Carolina.
“In terms of the money, we do not have enough,” Stein said. “Neither the federal nor state government has appropriated anywhere near sufficient resources to meet the needs that are required to help people get back on their feet.”
Last month, state lawmakers passed their third disaster recovery bill since the storm hit, bringing their total contribution past $1 billion. The latest iteration included a $200 million crop-loss program for farmers, $100 million to repair more than 8,000 private roads and bridges, $20 million for debris cleanup and $10 million for volunteer fire departments.
The bill allocated an additional $217 million to support people in eastern North Carolina whose homes still haven’t been rebuilt since Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018).
But Stein is still lobbying the legislature for more, and he said he feels good that the GOP leadership will come around “for another bite at the apple” sometime soon. Meanwhile, he has also visited Washington to request another $20 billion from Congress.
‘We cannot rest’
A point of pride for North Carolina in recent years has been its strong economy and business-friendly environment. Since taking office, Stein has announced the addition of more than 1,600 jobs — primarily in manufacturing — totaling more than $690 million invested into the state by private companies.
He wants to continue that trend through a set of initiatives aimed at strengthening North Carolina’s workforce.
“We have excellent universities, good infrastructure, affordable power, land, proximity to markets,” he explained. “But just because things have gone well in North Carolina doesn’t necessarily mean that they will continue to go well. So we have to stay aggressive. We have to stay on our toes. We cannot rest on our laurels. And we have to keep investing in our people.”
The way to do that, according to Stein, is to invest in two things: community colleges and childcare. Accessible childcare will allow more people to go to school and work. And better-funded community college programs will increase the amount of skilled workers and attract businesses to the state.
Stein established bipartisan committees on both issues and featured them heavily in his proposal for the 2025-27 cycle (Unlike some states, North Carolina operates on a two-year budget.).
Stein said he wants to make community college free for students seeking credentials in high-demand trades.
“I want us to be the best state for workforce development in the nation — and it is an achievable goal,” Stein said. “If we succeed, it will just continue to position us for ongoing economic success, which obviously benefits everyone.”
Come together
Passing the state budget on time was consistently a major headache for former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, and Stein is heading towards his first budget battle with the Republican-controlled legislature.
Although the state constitution names the governor director of the budget, the only real power they have is to provide the legislature with a proposal, which the General Assembly is not required to pass.
Stein released his budget proposal on March 19, which included the aforementioned investments in childcare and community colleges, as well as significant funding dedicated to pay raises for teachers, free school breakfasts and a $4 billion bond to renovate school buildings.
It also contains more money for law enforcement officers, renewed child tax credits and funding directed toward fentanyl control and cold case units for sexual assault victims within the state Department of Justice.
Notably, many of the priorities in Stein’s spending plan focus on issues that have support across the aisle. Although it remains to be seen whether Republicans in the legislature will bite on many of these proposals, he’s undoubtedly made in-roads with some of his conservative peers.
Several Republican lawmakers co-chair some of Stein’s newly-created task forces on childcare and workforce development.
“A lot of the issues that really make a difference in the lives of people, like education, workforce development, child care, public safety, health care — these are not issues that are Democratic or Republican. They’re North Carolina issues,” Stein said. “There are a number of Republicans and Democrats who have pretty similar approaches to them, and I think we work best when we work together … And so I welcome hearing perspectives from Republican legislators and Democratic legislators so that we can come up with the best ideas that have the greatest chance of success to make a difference in people’s lives.
“I ran for governor to get things done, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.”
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