Brooks Pierce Capital Dispatch: House Passes Budget and New Helene Recovery Bill, Senate Confirms DIT Secretary

House Passes Budget Bill

The NC House on Thursday passed the biennial budget bill (S 257) by a vote of 86 to 20. The vote was bipartisan with 25 Democrats joining 61 Republicans in supporting the bill.

This action follows Senate approval of its budget bill on April 17. The two houses will now negotiate over the differences between their two bills to produce a conference budget report to be considered by each house. Their goal is to reach an agreement and present the report to Gov. Josh Stein prior to June 30, the end of the current fiscal year. Members will not be in Raleigh during the Memorial Day week.

Highlights of the bill include:

• Raises the state-funded portion of starting teacher pay to $50,000 and teacher compensation by 8.7% over the biennium
• Raises salaries for state agency employees, community college staff and UNC system personnel by 2.5%
• Eliminates many vacant state employee positions to fund salary increases
• Alters the personal income tax rate triggers, which could reduce the rate of future automatic reductions. Under current law, three additional 0.5% reductions could occur between 2027 and 2034 if certain net General Fund revenue threshold triggers are exceeded. The 2025 state personal income tax rate is 4.25% and will fall to 3.99% in 2026 without regard to a trigger.
• Reinstates the back-to-school sales tax holiday starting in 2026, exempts the first $5,000 in tips from state income tax, and increases the standard tax deduction by $500 for individuals and $1,000 for married couples
• Funds new staff at NC DMV and authorizes a privatization pilot program for license renewal
• Funds $50 million in school safety grants

New Helene Bill

The House on Thursday passed a fifth Helene relief bill—the Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 Part II (H 1012). It supplements funds already enacted in prior bills including in H 47, which Gov. Stein signed into law on March 20.

Gov. Stein earlier this week requested another $891 million of state funds for Helene recovery.

The new House bill appropriates more than $450 million. Key funding provisions in it include:

• $70 million in additional state funds to match critical federal recovery programs
• $60 million in Small Business Disaster Grants with up to $100,000 per small business with eligibility based on a 20% loss threshold
• $50 million for local governments to fulfill unmet and unreimbursed capital needs
• $30 million in additional funds to support reconstruction of private roads and bridges
• $30 million for agricultural and general debris removal
• $25 million to support reconstruction of destroyed schools
• $25 million to improve airport infrastructure in Western North Carolina to expand emergency response capacity and repair Helene damage
• $25 million to rebuild damaged and destroyed farm infrastructure such as fences, barns, greenhouses, and farm roads
• $20 million for flood mitigation grants to rebuild at-risk infrastructure
• $20 million to support volunteer organizations directly supporting recovery efforts
• $18 million to provide $50,000 grants to fire stations and EMS units across Western North Carolina
• $15 million in firefighting equipment and contract personnel to the NC Forest Service to enhance wildfire preparedness
• $8 million for damaged schools

Cabinet Confirmation

The Senate on Thursday confirmed the nomination of Teena Piccione as Secretary of the Department of Information Technology.

Seven other Cabinet Secretaries were approved earlier—Gabe Esparza at Administration, Lee Lilley at Commerce, Dr. Devdutta Sangvai at Health and Human Resources, Pam Cashwell at Natural and Cultural Resources, Eddie Buffaloe at Public Safety, McKinley Wooten at Revenue, and Joey Hopkins at Transportation. The confirmation of three other Secretaries is pending. They are Leslie Dismukes at Adult Correction, Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette at Military and Veterans Affairs, and Reid Wilson at Environmental Quality.

For more information, contact a member of the Brooks Pierce Government Affairs Team.

Ed Turlington, Partner
Drew Moretz, Government Relations Advisor
Katelyn Kingsbury, Government Relations Advisor