Raleigh, NC – N.C. House Majority Leader John Bell issued the following statement on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2018 praising the passage of a $794 million Hurricane Florence relief funding bill:

“The N.C. General Assembly has moved at record pace to make sure relief gets to the victims of Hurricane Florence. With the passage of this historic recovery package, we will now have allocated $850 million in Hurricane Florence relief.

“This bill focuses on the immediate needs of our state, including delivering much-needed assistance to our agriculture community and funding repairs for damaged schools, roads and infrastructure. It was also made possible without raising taxes thanks to the record rainy day fund we have worked so hard to build up over the years.

“This is only the next step in our efforts to help the people of Eastern North Carolina recover. Far too many folks are still hurting from Hurricane Matthew and we are going to keep fighting for answers and relief for them. The victims of these storms will not be forgotten – and we are prepared to act to make sure they get the help they need.”