North Carolina Republican lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled their initial attempt this year to boost recovery funding for Hurricane Helene's historic flooding, proposing new spending that totals less than half of what new Democratic Gov.

Before leaving the governor's office, Roy Cooper stated in media interviews that Republican state legislators passed a bill that "actually took money away from western North Carolina." WFAE's Marshall Terry and WRAL's Paul Specht fact-check Cooper's claim.

Verizon partnered with ForgiveCo to give a fresh start to thousands of North Carolinians affected by Hurricane Helene in a debt relief campaign worth $10 million dollars.