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Yesterday, I stood outside a heavily damaged sewage pump station in Hillsborough and gave a press conference. It was about 91 degrees. Reporters were sweating. Here’s the story.
I’m suing FEMA. Why? Because they illegally cancelled more than $200 million that was headed to North Carolina for water and sewer upgrades. It was basically a flood preparation fund. Congress created it, funded it, and told FEMA to run it. Before FEMA pulled the plug, they had approved over 60 projects across our state - mostly moving pump stations and sewer lines to higher ground. A few examples:
And then there’s the Hillsborough pump station, where I spoke yesterday. It was set to receive $6m to move to higher ground. Also cancelled by FEMA. But here’s the thing: Three weeks ago, a tropical storm hit. The nearby river rose 24 feet and submerged the entire station. Millions of gallons of untreated sewage poured into the river. I spotlighted this pump station because it’s a perfect example of why this funding matters - and what happens when it’s taken away. Most people agree that keeping drinking water flowing and sewage contained is a legitimate use of public dollars. I appreciate that Sen. Tillis and Rep. Edwards have also urged FEMA to reverse course. Heck, President Trump signed this program into law in his first term. He wanted it. So we’re going to court, along with a number of AGs, and I’ll report back. Update on frozen education funds Speaking of frozen funds that likely violate federal law... Remember the freeze on $165m of education funding I told you about last week? Two updates: First, the Department of Education partially backtracked. It unfroze about $36m, specifically the funding for after-school and summer programs that serve over 10,000 kids in North Carolina. That’s good, but it still leaves roughly $130m unlawfully frozen, so we’re going to court to get the rest. Second, 10 Republican Senators signed a letter urging the Department to reverse course, giving us a strong bipartisan front going forward. That’s helpful. The next step is a request for an emergency hearing to try and get this resolved before the school year starts. By the way, I visited the Dream Center in Gastonia this week. It’s a nonprofit that provides high quality summer and after-school instruction - and receives about half of its funding from one of these programs. I wanted to see their work firsthand, and I was impressed. If more people could see what I saw, it might shift perspectives and lower the temperature a bit.
Lighthouse success The response to our Lighthouse Fund has been incredible. Over 1,000 of you have chipped in, making this a clear success. If you haven’t joined yet, I hope you’ll consider it. The idea is simple: create a low-cost way to stay in touch with voters through a once-a-month digital message - like a steady beam from a lighthouse. It’s a bit of an experiment, but given how many people are cutting the cord and going all-digital, we think it could be a really effective way to reach them. The best way to support this effort is a small monthly donation, but of course, one-time contributions are also welcome. You can do either here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue). Thanks again. - Jeff Jackson P.S. - One more small request. I know anxiety levels are pretty high for a lot of people right now. I get it. In these emails, I try to replace some of that anxiety with information. People usually feel a little better when they’ve got a clearer sense of what’s happening. So if you know someone who might appreciate these emails the same way you do, please forward to them and encourage them to subscribe. That’s all. Wishing you all the best.
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