North Carolina lawmakers agreed Wednesday to spend another $524 million on still-pressing needs from Hurricane Helene's historic flooding, including addressing some public school relief measures but having a major emphasis on home and private road repairs, agriculture, and infrastructure to aid businesses.

House and Senate Republicans worked out their differences from competing versions of the bill and voted overwhelmingly this week for the compromise, which also includes additional funding to address the recovery from previous storms.

The measure then went to Governor Josh Stein, who signed House Bill 47, Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 – Part 1 into law in a Wednesday evening ceremony.

The bill allocates $9 million for heavily impacted school districts to offer students in Grades 4-8 a School Extension Learning Recovery Program (SELFRP) this summer. Participation in the program would be optional for students and families.

The compromise bill increased this funding from previously proposed amounts and mandates that school districts in the following 13 counties offer the SELFRP: Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey. Charter schools in these counties may also participate, but they are not mandated to do so.

The bill also directs that unspent relief funds appropriated to the Department of Public Instruction revert to the Helene Fund on October 15, 2025.

Lawmakers called the bill “part one” of 2025 Helene recovery efforts. After the Senate gave the aid final approval Wednesday, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said he expected the next round of aid would come in the state budget, which both the House and Senate are working now to draft.