By Sam Stites
Read Just Economics’ one-page 2025 Legislative Agenda here.
The physical forces of Helene that devastated WNC on September 27th caused irreparable damage to our region, and damaged and destroyed infrastructure that left thousands without homes, power, water, and roadways for weeks, months, and to the present day. But that damage told only the first chapter of the story. The immediate aftermath of Helene brought an economic crisis, and threats to personal safety and well-being to the doorsteps of thousands in our community still weathering the storm.
Workers have had hours cut or wages reduced. Local businesses have found destroyed inventories, equipment and infrastructure, and denied insurance claims. A season of leaves without ‘lookers’ left a service-economy, its owners and workers, without the autumn traffic and income they wait all year for, and rely upon for payroll, rent, and to keep up with business and personal debt.
Helene put extraordinary strain on an already-difficult housing situation because of reduced housing supply, increased demand for rebuild and repair, and by producing catastrophic consequences for renters. With a near-halt to the economy and basic services, rent collection continued undisturbed. An unaccountable number of evictions have occurred, with few rights or protections for the tenants who were uprooted. Many others who remain in their homes have relied on the generosity of private charity and mutual aid organizations, rather than government support or regulation.
Just Economics does policy work around living wages, affordable housing, and public transit— and we will work alongside our community until we accomplish our goal of creating a just and sustainable economy for all in WNC. Here is a look at our work in public policy to promote a safe and thriving WNC at the state and local level.
Helene Support from State & Federal Government
The fight for cash rental assistance and policy to keep tenants in-place has received a lukewarm welcome in Raleigh.
A decrease in housing supply coupled with a long and for-some permanent disruption to employment and income meant that within days of Helene, tenants and mortgage holders had to begin crunching numbers and preparing to make payments for the month ahead in order to stay housed during an active disaster. Before electricity, roads, water, and commerce were restored, imposing rents meant that western North Carolinians in multiple counties were at risk of facing eviction or foreclosure with a short window to remedy the situation. For at least hundreds of households who faced a filing for eviction, which stays on tenants’ records for up to seven years regardless of merit or outcome, that window has closed. For others who continue to live in extreme insecurity and uncertainty, savings are being depleted, debt is being accrued, and the drastic impacts of Helene continues to rage in the path of working western North Carolinians.
The General Assembly and then-Governor Cooper had an opportunity to impose a moratorium on eviction, which would have provided life-saving protection for workers, the elderly, children, and everyone who struggles to pay rent in the most expensive housing market in the state. The move would not be unprecedented, as in 2020 a statewide eviction moratorium was mandated at the direction of Governor Cooper to keep people stably housed as COVID ravaged state and local economies.
Just Economics took action swiftly, working with statewide partners in the North Carolina Inclusive Disaster Recovery Network (NCIDRN) to identify policy opportunities to address the short and medium term needs of disaster survivors in the region. Hundreds of WNC elected officials, faith, business, and nonprofit leaders, and citizens at large joined us in calling on the Governor, Council of State, and NCGA to take action on pausing evictions.
Our calls included other measures to keep tenants and residents in place, including a substantial rental assistance package and moratorium on mortgages for homeowners at risk of foreclosure or falling behind on payments. To date, the NCGA has allocated a meager $1 Million in rental assistance to the region—enough to sustain roughly 300 households for three months at current inflated rental market prices. By comparison, direct aid from one church—Grace Covenant Church—has surpassed the assistance from the State of North Carolina by 5 times, keeping countless people housed.
Our advocacy has taken us directly to Raleigh a number of times, where we have worked closely with legislators in the general assembly from across WNC and participated in demonstrations. This has included both republicans and democrats and with varying levels of support and cooperation between legislators. Despite the hard work of our issue-allies in the House and Senate, we have found the political terrain to be an uphill battle for advocates of antipoverty disaster-recovery initiatives.
The NCGA is hesitant to provide grants to small businesses and instead prefers to offer conditional loans.
Critical to the recovery of WNC and our advocacy is the case for small business grants or forgivable loans to WNC local businesses. Grants are needed in order to maintain economic sustainability, ensure the flow of income to local workers and renters, and to prevent the collapse of a local economy and replacement by corporate, out-of-town entities. In the General Assembly, House and Senate members representing Buncombe County have been vocal proponents of grants to small businesses, yet to date the four relief bills have only included loans. For business owners who may be experiencing significant hardship, who may be unsure about revenue in the coming year, and who may still be paying off loans from COVID, the prospect of accepting a new loan for relief is extremely risky.
We highlighted the need for small business grants and for WNC to be centered in the conversations about relief in a telephone town hall hosted by our close partners at the NC Budget & Tax Center. Among the other town hall speakers, which included people from across WNC and representing various groups, a common theme was the disconnect between the experiences of western North Carolinians post-Helene and the general assembly which seems unresponsive to and unaware of their needs.
In line with the disconnect, the appetite for loans in the NCGA appears to be low. The best case scenario would be a series of forgivable loans, and it may be likely that unforgivable loans or no further ‘assistance’ is offered. As an organization dedicated to building a sustainable economy, who works closely with the business community with Living Wage Certified employers in 18 counties, Just Economics stands for local businesses and their workers and will continue to advocate for whatever relief they can get.
Western representatives are not always aligned with legislators from the rest of the state, their party, nor with each other.
During the first passage of the Third Helene-relief package (SB382), best known for its changes to the balance of powers in state politics, Democrats were joined by three Western representatives in voting against passage of the bill because of the lack of adequate relief it provided to the region. Those Republican representatives, Clampitt, Gillespie, and Pless, were not enough to prevent passage of the bill and begin drafting of a clean Helene-relief bill, but they would have been enough to block the veto-override which came after Governor Cooper vetoed the bill which would strip the incoming Stein administration and Council of State of powers. Just Economics condemned the abuse of disaster relief efforts and lobbied representatives directly in Raleigh. In the end these efforts were not enough to convince the three republican holdouts to maintain their vote in favor of disaster recovery and they voted to override the veto.
More recently, during the passage of the fourth relief bill (HB47), Rep. Pless joined the calls of WNC democrats for rental assistance and added an amendment to include $10 Million for this purpose. That measure, along with tens of millions in small businesses grant funds, was removed from the final version of the bill which was passed. It did include $4 Million for tourism marketing, a strange decision considering the removal of small business grants and rental assistance needed to ensure a tourism industry can exist.
HB47 brought the total funding allocated to WNC for Helene relief, 7 months after the storm, to $1.4 Billion, compared to the $4 Billion requested by Governor Cooper and the $60 Billion dollar price tag of Helene as calculated by the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM). The funding environment has grown even more complicated, as federal funds to WNC for relief through FEMA and other congressional and executive agencies have come into question or been cancelled outright since the beginning of the Trump administration. Fueling concerns for funding for disaster recovery in WNC is the continued phase-out of income taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals. With the Our Dollars Our Future campaign, Just Economics travelled to Raleigh with the simple message that wealthy individuals and corporations should not be getting tax cuts when working Western North Carolinians are being evicted and small businesses are shuddering.
Directing Local Funds
We are pushing for Helene-recovery funds (CDGB-DR) to be used in ways that support physical and economic security, though the direction of the funds is still uncertain.
Just Economics regularly engages in local government budget processes in Buncombe County, the City of Asheville, and in more recent years Transylvania County and the City of Brevard. Since Helene, this work has meant navigating the regular budget, Helene-related losses to tax revenues, and additional funds brought through grants and aid related to Helene.
As part of a federal disaster recovery program that provides funding to communities affected by major disasters, the City of Asheville was awarded $225 Million in the form of a Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR). The funds are an unmistakable opportunity to direct local funds to projects and programs which will have a long-term impact on the City and region’s future.
We believe that Helene-relief funds should be used to support tenants and housing in the region.
CDBG-DR funds are meant to help address disaster-related unmet needs in housing, economic revitalization and infrastructure and should benefit low-to moderate income households as defined by HUD (the awarding agency). Just Economics is advocating alongside members of the Buncombe Affordable Housing Network (BAHN) to prioritize housing and projects that benefit low-income households and help with a just recovery. This advocacy is particularly important since Helene has had a poverty-multiplying effect, particularly related to housing security, and particularly in Asheville which was named the most expensive housing environment in the state prior to the storm.
CDGB-DR funds can be used in other ways to protect tenants and residents of already existing private housing. In the absence of meaningful rental assistance from the state we would like to see funds used for rental and utility assistance. For current and hopeful homeowners who also face housing insecurity after an economic downturn, there is opportunity to explore mortgage and downpayment assistance funded directly or through non-profit programs that already subsidize programs of this type and have received support from local government grants in the past. For those currently or imminently unhoused, disaster relief funds can be used to produce disaster relief measures, such as emergency shelters. Housing insecurity in the wake of a disaster is not an overnight phenomenon, and it is all but certain that evictions, foreclosures, deteriorating conditions, and departure from the region will continue without substantial recognition of the problem and equal commitment to providing solutions.
Our regular budget advocacy on better transit continues uninterrupted.
Since 2013, through the Better Buses Together campaign and work with the bus drivers union (ATU Local 128), Just Economics has advocated for maintaining, improving, and expanding the Asheville transit network. This rider and driver-powered work has seen new routes created, better signage made, rider policies amended, and all kinds of improvements to create a more just and sustainable transit system in Asheville and Buncombe County. Since Helene, many roads and vehicles were destroyed, routes were damaged and delayed, and living and employment situations have shifted all over the map. In 2025, we are asking for no budgetary cuts to transit and continuing the call for transit improvements in the near future including increased frequency to South Asheville as well as on the 170, a route that runs east of the City through hard-hit Swannanoa.
2025 is an inflection point for the area and the transit system, its riders, and its workers can not be harmed by disinvestment. Because of loss of vehicles, an exacerbated housing crisis, and shaky employment, public transit infrastructure needs to be a core investment of the long term recovery of the region. Looking forward, we know that fare-free transit is a beneficial policy that is within reach, whereas fare collection costs money, slows performance and operations, and decreases ridership. To improve funding and administration, Just Economics supports a City and County partnership to achieve better transit for Buncombe riders.
Increasing Pay for Public Employees
Just Economics believes that all public employees across WNC should make at least a living wage.
Each year we advocate for employees of the City of Asheville’s wage floor to be raised to the latest Buncombe county Living Wage, calculated annually by us, as we have done since 2008. Tied to a 4-year rolling average of the cost of housing in our area, the 2025 Buncombe County Living Wage is $23.15/hour. While the budget has not been finalized, some budget proposals have gotten city staff close to achieving a living wage floor, and it is good that public staff will receive increases as they did in 2024. Passing such a budget would bring it closer to its own policy that all city staff be paid a minimum of the living wage. In particular, firefighters remain at risk of being paid sub-livable wages because of the unique way in which their weekly work-schedule is structured to incorporate on-call, on-site sleeping periods, and therefore have hourly wages that do not rise to a sufficient amount.
Buncombe County is facing an even more drastic budget shortfall which has the potential for a significant cut to the funding for local schools. Over the last several years, Just Economics has embarked on a local campaign to advocate for higher wages in education, from preschool through college and university. In recent years, we have partnered with the Buncombe County and Asheville City Association of Educators, which are the local chapters of the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), as they have called on our Buncombe County Commissioners to increase local school funding so that we can adequately serve our children and ensure that everyone from school bus drivers to classroom aids to teachers is paid a wage they can live on. In the post-Helene budget cycle, the local chapters of NCAE are calling for a 2-cent property tax to mitigate the negative impacts on cuts to the school districts and Just Economics stands in support of their request.
Our work on better jobs for public staff has had a welcome reception in Transylvania County, where Just Economics has worked with long-time affiliate, the Living Wage Coalition of Transylvania County (LWCTC), to advocate for living wages ($17.55/hour in 2025) and adoption of a paid family leave (PFL) policy for employees of the City of Brevard and Transylvania County Government. In addition to our usual emphasis on living wages, our advocacy for pro-worker, pro-family PFL policies is supported by our partners in the North Carolina Families Care coalition. PFL can be used in the event of birth or adoption of a child, or to serve as a caregiver for family members in the event of an emergency or illness. The City of Brevard raised the wage floor to the then-living wage in 2023, and took the important step of adopting a paid parental leave policy. Revisiting the City of Brevard to update their wage floor to the 2025 rate, the City has presented draft budgets that acknowledge directly the need to meet living wage standards, an optimistic sign for advocates and especially Brevard public workers and their families.
Advocacy with the Transylvania Government has proven more difficult, as the county did not raise the wage floor to a living wage when they were approached during the 2024 budget cycle, and we have not received indications that they will do so in 2025. From a recent, wide-ranging budget request, the LWCTC discovered that just under 30% of Transylvania County regular staff earn below a living wage, with workers in the transportation, parks and recreation, and child development departments having the highest proportion of sub-livable wage workers. To better guide advocacy and understand the experience of low wage workers in Transylvania County, the LWCTC encourages all Transylvania public employees and general low-wage workers to fill out the completely anonymous 2025 State of Work Survey.
Additionally, the Transylvania County Board of Education (TCBOE) has approved and recommended a budget to the Transylvania County Board of Commissioners that would provide substantial raises to all Transylvania public school workers via the salary supplement. This measure is intended to improve retention and recruitment of teachers, and to surpass the salaries of Henderson county schools for fear of losing potential staff to the neighboring county. Just Economics and the LWCTC support the raises for school workers and will be calling on the Commissioners to approve this in their budget cycle with guidance from the Transylvania County Association of Educators, the local chapter of the NCAE.
Good Policy Makes a Difference
Hurricane Helene was a disaster that caused damage at an unprecedented scale. Even for thousands across WNC, the fear and reality of ongoing wildfires fueled by the immense volume of dry debris is a painful reminder we are in an ongoing crisis—natural and economic—in critical need of intervention that prioritizes renters, and prevents the decrease of local employers and loss of income for workers. In the era of climate catastrophe where even the nation’s most promising ‘climate-sanctuaries’ can be devastated by winds, and flooding, and fires, state and local government leaders should learn from WNC and act to promote bold, pro-people policy to mitigate even the worst circumstances that can be initiated by a disaster.
Helene has exposed that the greatest vulneralities to western North Carolinians are controlled at the policy level, and that we must fight urgently to help elected leaders see a new vision for disaster recovery and sustained policymaking that answers our calls for peace and justice and security rooted in community. A just and sustainable economy is worth fighting for.
