Did North Carolina reject Helene contractors over state racial ‘quotas’?

A North Carolina legislator said the state’s minority-owned businesses guidelines are hindering its ability to hire contractors to help with Hurricane Helene damage cleanup.

State House Majority leader Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, made the statement April 2 after he was asked about a bill he introduced to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in state and local governments. 

The bill passed 69-45, April 30 along party lines, with Republicans in favor. But before it did, Minority Leader Robert Reives, D-Chatham, asked Jones in a House committee meeting about the bill’s title, "Equality in State Agencies/Prohibition on DEI." Here’s a transcript of their exchange.

Reives: "I see that (bill title) as an implication that right now there is not equality in hiring in state agencies. Was that a problem that was brought to your attention? And if so, by who?"

Jones: "Yes, and by several different people."

Reives: "Were those people who were saying that they were being forced to hire by quotas, or something of that sort?"

Jones: "Yes, sir."

Reives: "What statute is … the quota requirement that you're referring to? I haven't seen it, but, you know, I haven't read the law. So there is a quota requirement, you say?"

Jones then cited a state law — GS 143-128.2 — which says:

"The state shall have a verifiable 10% goal for participation by minority businesses in the total value of work for each State building project, including building projects done by a private entity on a facility to be leased or purchased by the state."

Jones then said he believes the statute meets the definition of a quota, adding that his push to eliminate it "stemmed from some of the hurricane disaster relief work that's being done and that contractors are being rejected because they cannot meet some of these so called quotas."

PolitiFact North Carolina reached out to Jones by email and telephone asking him to provide evidence that contractors were turned away from disaster relief work because of the state statute in question. Jones’s office didn’t respond to the questions.

We also reached out to the offices of House Speaker Destin Hall and the chairmen of the House Select Committee on Helene Recovery — Republican state Reps. John Bell of Wayne County and Dudley Greene of McDowell County — asking if they’re aware of any contractors who had been barred from working on disaster relief because of state law. Their offices didn’t respond.

We also reached out to the Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, which Gov. Josh Stein created this year to help manage relief efforts for Hurricane Helene. Stein spokesperson Morgan Hopkins said the office is not aware of any contractors being turned away from helping because of the statute Jones cited.

Featured Fact-check

Marcia Morey

stated on April 30, 2025 in a speech in the North Carolina House of Representatives

“Google caved in to Trump. They erased Black History Month from the calendar.”

The state Department of Administration said Jones’s claims are inaccurate.

The state law in question references a "goal" of 10% participation in state contracts by minority-owned businesses, and the state considers that to be purely a goal — not a quota, said department spokesperson Julia Hegele. 

"There are no required quotas for including minority-owned businesses on state contracts," Hegele said.

North Carolina’s population is 70% white and 22% Black or multiracial, and 11% of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, according to 2024 U.S. Census estimates.

"The statute includes a 10% goal (not a quota) for including Historically Underutilized Businesses as subcontractors on government-related construction projects but failure to meet the goal does not prevent a bidder from winning the contract," she said. "The law requires contractors to demonstrate good faith efforts to include HUBs as subcontractors. Under the law, failure to demonstrate making a good faith effort can result in a vendor being disqualified from the bid."

Further, Hegele said the Department of Administration isn’t aware of any contractors being rejected from recovery work because of the statute in question.

Our ruling

Jones said "contractors are being rejected because they can not meet some of these so-called quotas."

He provided no evidence to back up his claim that racial quotas exist at all, or that they’re responsible for a slowdown in disaster response. We rate it False.