VOLUME 9 ISSUE 43 | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2024
NSJONLINE.COM
Bring us the Bill UNC shocked the college football and greater sports world last week by hiring eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick to lead the Tar Heels football team. Belichick attended Carolina’s men’s basketball game against La Salle, being introduced and speaking to the Dean Dome crowd during halftime. See more in Sports.
ASHLEY WHITE / NORTH STATE JOURNAL
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House committee holds first Helene recovery meeting
BRIEF this week
Stein names 7 Cabinet members Raleigh Governor-elect Josh Stein has announced his first seven cabinet members for his incoming administration. Two of his picks — Pamela Cashwell and D. Reid Wilson — are members of outgoing-Gov. Roy Cooper’s cabinet. His choices also include the first Hispanic cabinet member and the first American Indian female member. Wilson will move from being N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources secretary to lead the Department of Environmental Quality, while Cashwell — the first American Indian woman to head a cabinet department in North Carolina, according to Stein’s release — will move from the Department of Administration to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Stein chose Central Piedmont Community College Trustee Gabriel J. Esparza to lead the Department of Administration. Leslie Cooley Dismukes, who served under Stein in the state Justice Department, was picked to lead the Department of Adult Correction. Devdutta Sangvai, a Duke University School of Medicine professor, will replace Kody Kinsley as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. He is a recent past president of Duke Regional Hospital and is currently president of the North Carolina Medical Board. The Department of Revenue will be led by McKinley Wooten Jr., currently the agency’s assistant secretary for tax processing, research and equity. Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette, an attorney and Air Force veteran, was picked to lead the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
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The overall recovery costs are estimated to surpass $53 billion By A.P. Dillon North State Journal
of the State Auditor’s (OSA) new audit on the North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) distribution of the funds found that from Feb. 1, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2023, DPS had distributed $18 million in Hurricane Florence to recipients with “limited monitoring.” For the same period, $94 million in funds went out “without ensuring
RALEIGH — The General Assembly’s House Select Committee on Helene Recovery met for the first time Dec. 11 to discuss current appropriations and future funding needs. “It’s probably gonna be years in the recovery process,” Rep. Dudley Greene (R-Avery), the committee co-chair, said. “We’ve got a long way to go.” Fiscal Research Division’s Mark White gave an overview of the appropriations by the General Assembly to date, which total $1.13 billion across three bills. Two of the bills were passed and enacted in October: $273 million in Session Law 2024-51 and $604.15 million in Session Law 2024-53. An additional $225 million was passed in Senate Bill 382, which Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed due to other provisions in the bill unrelated to hurricane relief. The General Assembly completed an overrode of the veto on Dec. 11. Presentations were also given by Samaritan’s Purse Senior Director of North American Ministries Jason Kimak, N.C. Office of State Budget and Management’s Kristin Walker and N.C. Baptist Men/Baptists on Mission
See AUDIT, page A3
See HELENE, page A2
Audit critical of checks on $112M in Florence funds The 2022 analysis found monitoring and measurement issues at DPS By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — A new audit report has found issues with the distribution of $112 million in Hurricane Florence funds. The North Carolina Office
LGC to monitor Town of Speed The commission also approved $79.9 million in spending By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — At its December meeting, the Local Government Commission approved multiple spending items and adopted a resolution regarding the financial monitoring of the Edgecombe County town of Speed. The Local Government Commission (LGC) directed the town of Speed, with about 60 residents, to contract with public accountants to manage its financial affairs, with potential consequences including loss of charter control if the town does not comply. The LGC gave the town 30 days to confirm engagement in that contract and must open its financial and accounting records to LGC personnel.
The LGC, chaired by North Carlina Treasurer Dale Folwell, monitors the financial well-being of more than 1,100 local government units. Several financing projects were approved during the meeting, including substantial investments in infrastructure, public facilities and community development. These approvals span various counties and involve different types of financial mechanisms like installment purchases, revenue bonds and state revolving fund loans. LGC spending approvals for December included: • Pineville (Mecklenburg County): $16.5 million for a new fire station • Brunswick County: $33 million for sewer project bond refunding • Inlivian (Mecklenburg County): $26 million for a lowincome housing development See LGC, page A2
I’m going to miss the creativity and the courage and the hard work of the state employees.” Dale Folwell, North Carolina state treasurer
“We’ve got a long way to go.” Committee Co-chair Rep. Dudley Greene (R-Avery)