Legislation with millions in flood mitigation funding for Robeson County before House panel
Jun. 9—RALEIGH — Tens of millions of dollars for flood mitigation along the Lumber River in Robeson County are contained in legislation making its way through the North Carolina House of Representatives.
House Bill 500, also known as the Disaster Relief and Mitigation Act of 2021, was referred back to the House Appropriations Committee on June 1 after being approved by the House Environment Committee. The legislation, of which Rep. Brenden Jones is a primary sponsor, would allocate $220 million for various projects to make communities across North Carolina more resilient against damage caused by hurricanes and other severe storms. The legislation contains $36.5 million for projects along the Lumber River in Robeson County and Fair Bluff; specifically $18 million for channel widening, $5 million for Lumberton/CSX floodgates, $3.5 million for a Fair Bluff levee, and $10 million for buying out properties destroyed by flooding or in flood plains.
The legislation is something he "proudly sponsored," said Jones, a Republican from Tabor City whose District 46 covers parts of Columbus and Robeson counties. House Bill 500 will pay for resiliency projects to mitigate future floods from hurricanes and other severe weather events.
"For too long, the current system, especially under the (Gov. Roy) Cooper administration, has been too slow and only provided a band-aid fixes. This legislation starts the process of real change to truly help protect and mitigate harm to our citizens and their property. Throughout the legislative process, I will continue to champion the provisions of this bill whether as a standalone or in the budget," said Jones, one of the bill's primary sponsors.
The question is whether or not the legislation, of which Democrat Rep. Charles Graham of Lumberton is a co-sponsor, can be approved before the current General Assembly session, known as the long session, ends.
"We are hopeful the General Assembly will approve and the governor will sign into law major disaster relief and flood mitigation legislation this session," said Rep. John Bell, lead sponsor of the legislation introduced into the House on April 8.
If full General Assembly approval can't be obtained before the session ends, it can be taken up during the short session, Bell said.
Historically, the long session has ended during the first half of July. But, it can go longer if a budget can not be approved before the typical adjournment date.
House and Senate negotiators announced Tuesday that they have agreed on a dollar amount, $25.7 billion, for the budget that is to take effect July 1. Talks about how much to spend on state government operations next year have delayed the budget for weeks. Until this past week negotiators from the two chambers were hundreds of millions of dollars apart.
That means the long session could last longer than usual, giving more time to get HB500 approved.
The short session typically starts in May. The session is used primarily to deal with any legislation that needs funding, like HB500, or any legislation that is not timely and met the deadline for receiving approval in one General Assembly chamber.
House Bill 500 is of particular importance to Rep. Bell, a Republican whose District 10 covers all of Greene County and parts of Johnston and Wayne counties.
"I live in and represent an area that has felt the brunt of two 1,000-year floods in the past five years," he said.
Bell was the primary writer of HB500. But he had the help of Reps. Jones; Pat McElraft, a Republican from Emerald Isle; and Charlie Miller, a Republican from Brunswick County, Bell said.
McElraft and Miller also are primary sponsors of the legislation.
Reach T.C. Hunter via email at [email protected] or by calling 910-816-1974.
