Gov. Cooper's Disaster Recovery Agency Blows $175 Million Hole in Budget
Agency hid financial woes for weeks, even as hurricane season was in full swing
Sen. Berger: "It's past time for Gov. Cooper to take accountability for his six years of mismanagement and financial carelessness"
Raleigh, N.C. – The N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), Gov. Roy Cooper's agency responsible for assisting victims of natural disasters, informed legislative leaders it requires an additional 27% of its budget to continue operations. This financial catastrophe is a direct result of top-down mismanagement from the agency. Now, with only a few days' notice, Gov. Cooper is asking the General Assembly for $175 million to clean up his mess.
According to the latest NCORR data and media reports, about 1,600 North Carolinians impacted by Hurricane Florence are still without permanent housing. Republican lawmakers have pressed the agency to improve its operations through public hearings held by the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations Hurricane Response and Recovery Subcommittee. In the winter of 2022, members of the subcommittee called for the agency's director to be removed, but Gov. Cooper has yet to take any meaningful action to improve agency operations.
Hurricane victims have waited years to return to a permanent home and blame lays squarely at the feet of Gov. Cooper.
"For years, Gov. Cooper has shrugged off what has become the most botched long-term hurricane response in the country. It's a stain on our state and it keeps me up at night thinking about what may come as we start to recover from Hurricane Helene," said Hurricane Response and Recovery Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Brent Jackson (R-Sampson). "There are no magic words that can get victims of Hurricane Florence back in a home, and no amount of money that will root out the incompetence at the NCORR. There needs to be changes in leadership."
Next month the subcommittee will meet to get a better understanding of the agency's financial mismanagement and why this information was hidden from the legislature until right before it returned to pass the second Hurricane Helene recovery package. As the agency begins to navigate the recovery process for Hurricane Helene, the status quo is unacceptable.
"NCORR leaders have repeatedly tried to cover up their failures at the expense of hurricane victims. Their attempts to hide problems rather than own up to their incompetence has resulted in a continuing disaster for hurricane victims," said Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations Committee Chairman Sen. Phil Berger (R-Rockingham). "Now, Gov. Cooper is asking for an additional $175 million with little to no time to evaluate the request. It's past time for Gov. Cooper to take accountability for his six years of mismanagement and financial carelessness. I look forward to GovOps getting to the bottom of this astounding failure."
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