North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein asked state legislators Monday to roughly double their spending so far on recovery from Hurricane Helene, warning that waiting will cause more business closings, housing construction delays and students falling behind.
Speaking in a mountain county hit by the historic flooding, the new Democratic governor said he wants his $1.07 billion request enacted now by the Republican-controlled General Assembly — rather than wait for the two-year budget that starts in July, when he'll make an additional Helene appeal.
