Rev. William Barber and civil rights organizations rail against Senate Bill 382
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Reverend Dr. William Barber and several advocacy groups gathered Monday to rail against Senate Bill 382.
The bill would provide $227 million toward disaster relief efforts in western North Carolina. However, the new legislation would also strip power from the incoming Democratic governor and Democratic attorney general. It would also reduce the window to fix provisional ballots after Election Day.
"I don't care what the party of the people are in western North Carolina. They deserve to be lifted in this moment. They don't deserve to be forgotten. They don't deserve to be stepped over on. And they don't deserve to be used as a pretext for somebody stripping power," Barber said.
During the hour-long press conference, speakers from several different advocacy organizations railed against the legislation, as they called on state lawmakers to take more immediate action to provide support.
"We cannot wait for funding for things like rental assistance, childcare stabilization, and small business grants," said Jen Hampton, who lives in Asheville and works with Just Economics.
"My friends and neighbors are suffering. So many have nothing left. Nothing. I drive places where nothing's left," added Leslie Boyd, who works with the Poor People's Campaign and lives in Candler, a mile outside Asheville.
Boyd said her home did not have water for four weeks.
"When I looked out the window in the morning and saw the snow, it wasn't 'My isn't this pretty?' It was, 'How many people are living in tents and brushing the snow off the tents,'" said Boyd.
She called on lawmakers to further tap into a budget surplus, which has been accumulated over a number of years.
"We are also joining Just Economics and thousands of others in demanding of eviction moratorium in western North Carolina," said Rev. Rob Stephens, with the Poor People's Campaign
Last week, Gov. Roy Cooper and Governor-elect Josh Stein met with members of the state's Congressional and Senate delegations to request additional support.
"It was a very healthy discussion, and extremely bipartisan," said Congresswoman Deborah Ross, who represents the state's 2nd District.
Conversations revolved around issues pertaining to water access and infrastructure damage, amongst other avenues in which the federal government could provide assistance.
"We also talked about the importance of small business loans and having some flexibility for rebuilding because of the unique nature of this particular damage," said Ross.
Ross, along with five other members of the state's Democratic Congressional delegation, wrote a letter last week to urge House leads "to include $25.57 billion in federal support for North Carolina as requested by Governor Roy Cooper." The funding would go towards repairing and rebuilding over 150,000 damaged homes, as well as providing temporary housing, restoration of major highways, water and sewer systems, repairs to power grids and communication networks, reconstruction of damages schools, hospitals, and child care centers, and support for small businesses, agriculture and tourism.
"We have thousands of people living in tents and campers, unhoused, about to be unhoused. We need financial support. We need it for our childcare assistance as well, and small businesses so we don't lose our small, local businesses and keep people in our region," said Hampton.
SB 382 quickly passed the Republican-controlled state House and Senate last week. Former Governor Pat McCrory and some Democrats have come out calling the bill an unconstitutional power grab.
Governor Roy Cooper has the chance to veto this bill this week.
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