NC lawmaker wants to make sure more cities have salt reserves by next winter
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- House Democrats propose $35M package to boost winter readiness.
- Creates NCDOT-run $5M salt reserve with application and possible local match.
- Funds plow outfitting, $10M recurring local aid, and public road-clearing maps.
After two winter storms two weeks in a row, a North Carolina lawmaker wants to make sure that the state is better equipped for a multi-storm winter.
Rep. Cynthia Ball, a Wake County Democrat, will file a bill to provide weather-related funding when the General Assembly’s session begins in April, she said Monday.
“Several of us have been talking about this, and we certainly don’t want to have another winter storm that does what the last two have done,” Ball told The News & Observer on Monday at the Legislative Building.
Ball said she wanted to introduce the idea now, “at a time that this kind of thing is on people’s minds.”
The state has enough of a sand and salt supply to last for three winter storms, but after two in a row, was pushing to build up the supply again, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein told reporters last week.
He had previously told reporters, during a visit to the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s “Brine Mountain” facility in Raleigh between the ice and snowstorms, that the state had enough supplies for the second storm.
However, some municipalities were told that NCDOT was being selective with supplies for some locations, and was focused on major roadways first, The Charlotte Observer and N&O previously reported.
How draft legislation could help local governments more in winter storms
While the bill is still being formally drafted, this is what Ball, who is House deputy Democratic leader, and other House Democrats are proposing:
- $20 million to outfit trucks with snow plows to use if needed;
- $10 million in recurring funds to help local governments with training, staff and other winter preparedness operations;
- $5 million in recurring money to build a reserve of salt, which is used to make brine, for cities, towns and counties. NCDOT would maintain and distribute the reserve.
- NCDOT would create an application process for municipalities to apply for reserves based on need, impact, geography and population;
- Cities and counties that receive NCDOT funds would need to create a real-time map for residents to see a timeline of roads that have been cleared;
- A local match for funding, though the amount is yet to be determined.
What’s next for snow legislation
No action can be taken on the bill until the legislative short session, which convenes April 21.
“I know we can’t move on it until April, but we have the opportunity between now and then to reach out to municipalities, the county commissioners — all across the state — and ask them what their thoughts are about it, and how we can improve what we are proposing,” Ball said in an interview.
She also talked briefly about her proposal during a procedural session of the House on Monday. Ball said the bill will be called “Keeping NC Open For Business.”
“North Carolina is historically a state that has mild winters, but recently we have seen Arctic currents diverting unusually cold air that settles persistently over our state for weeks,” she said.
Ball said it would be naive not to prepare for future weather impacts on the state.
Republican Rep. Donna McDowell White of Johnston County, who presided Monday, said “I think it’s a great idea. Could we please call it, ‘Goodbye to the South.’”
Stein told reporters last week that the state was working to replenish its “salt bank.”
“We are on this,” Stein said. “We want to have two or three storms’ worth of salt on hand at any time, so we never run out.”
The National Weather Service forecast for Tuesday in Raleigh is sunny with a high of 64 degrees.
This story was originally published February 10, 2026 at 8:00 AM.
