ATLANTA – Georgia’s two U.S. senators are among more than 50 members of Congress named by President Donald Trump Thursday to a bipartisan task force that will advise him on when and how to reopen the U.S. economy.
Trump already has two advisory groups working to help shape America’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic: the original COVID-19 task force headed by Vice President Mike Pence and a large group of business leaders the president assembled earlier this week.
Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler and 18 other GOP senators will join the new congressional task force, which also will include 12 Senate Democrats and Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
Both Perdue, a former CEO of Dollar General, and Loeffler, who headed a Bitcoin-focused subsidiary of InterContinental Exchange Inc. before joining the Senate in January, said their business expertise should help in their new roles.
“The COVID-19 crisis and the resulting shutdown of much of our country has taken a serious toll on our economy,” Perdue said. “Even while we are fighting this virus, we need to begin thinking about how to reopen our economy. … Our objective should be to find a balance between keeping people healthy while protecting jobs and the economy long term.”
“With over 22 million Americans already filing for unemployment, it’s critical that we turn to the work we need to do to safely restore the American economy to its full strength,” Loeffler added. “I’m confident that under the leadership of President Trump, and with counsel from this task force, we will be able to safety reengage in a vibrant society that supports our lives and livelihoods.”
The original coronavirus task force Trump appointed in late January has been dominated by public health officials who have at times clashed with the president over whether it’s safe to reopen the U.S. to schools and businesses while the number of Americans contracting COVID-19 and dying from the virus continues to rise, especially when testing still is not widely available.
The new advisory group of business leaders is expected to be more sympathetic toward ending the economic shutdown as soon as possible, at least in parts of the country where the virus has been less widespread.
The congressional task force, featuring both Republicans and Democrats, can be expected to deliver a mixed message to the president.
Coronavirus cases continue to climb in Georgia. (Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
State and local governments in Georgia could see huge declines in tax revenues amid severe business disruptions prompted by coronavirus, according to research from Georgia State University.
Revenues from sales taxes could be down between $729 million and $1.27 billion for state and local governments over two to four months if Georgians continue abstaining from travel, restaurants, vacationing and certain kinds of work.
Meanwhile, the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) – a key indicator of economic health – could shrink between 2.4% and 4.1%, with several major industries in the state like airlines, hospitality, food services and entertainment taking on big losses.
Those findings came in a report released this week by researchers from GSU’s Fiscal Research Center. The researchers, Peter Bluestone and Robert Buschman, estimate tax revenue losses in areas like retail and motor fuel sales will continue to be steep as Georgia consumers and workers stay home.
“With many Georgians not currently working and most rarely leaving their homes for now, GDP will necessarily fall sharply in the second quarter,” the researchers write. “However, massive government assistance programs for individuals and businesses will, hopefully, limit the immediate damage and enable the economy to at least enjoy a U-shaped recovery later this year.”
“How soon, however, depends on science,” the report adds.
Restaurants, bars, barbershops and other popular gathering spots have been on lockdown in Georgia this month since Gov. Brian Kemp issued a statewide shelter-in-place order. Concerns over spreading the highly infectious virus have disrupted airline travel and vacation stays, both of which are important economic drivers in Georgia.
State lawmakers have already signaled they will need to overhaul Georgia’s budget after approving mid-year spending amounts for state agencies last month, shortly before suspending the 2020 legislative session. They will need to meet again before July 1 to hash out the 2021 fiscal year budget.
The GSU report estimated several scenarios for how deep social distancing may cut into Georgia’s economy, ranging from 25% losses in certain industries to 90% in others.
Four economic sectors including airlines, restaurants and hotels were analyzed in the report, accounting for losses that could collectively shave between $1.9 billion and $3.6 billion per month off the state’s GDP.
The shutdowns also are having a give-and-take effect on industries such as food services, the report notes. While restaurants are seeing major losses from in-person dining closures, sales at grocery stores are climbing.
Passenger screenings through U.S. airports like Atlanta’s bustling Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport are down more than 95% compared to this time last year, while demand for planes to be used as cargo transport for medical supplies and equipment is on the rise, the report notes.
The situation now facing airlines drew comparisons to air traffic following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Those attacks led to the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, which the report says restored confidence in commercial air travel safety.
“In the present case, it is not yet clear what signals will draw passengers back or when they will appear,” the GSU researchers write.
Other industries like hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues are seeing similar gashes in revenues, the report says. Double-digit declines in revenues totaling hundreds of billions of dollars could be in the offing for those industries, according to the report.
ATLANTA – The coronavirus pandemic is saddling Georgia with historic levels of unemployment.
Initial unemployment claims increased by a record 290,068 last month compared to February as the economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak took hold. The total for March was higher than the total for all of last year.
The Georgia Department of Labor processed 319,581 claims just during the week of March 29 through April 4. Counting the previous week’s claims, the state has handled more than 700,000 claimants in two weeks.
The state’s unemployment rate went up by 1.1% last month – also setting a record for such a short period – to reach 4.2%. Unemployment stood at 3.7% in March of last year.
“We are reaching unprecedented claim levels of almost 1 million Georgians filing for unemployment,” state Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said Thursday. “That is one in every 10 people who are turning to the [labor department] for unemployment assistance.”
March showed a decrease of 77,876 employed Georgians, the largest monthly drop since February 2010. The state’s labor force fell by 22,434, the largest monthly decrease since March 2010.
The sector showing the largest increase in unemployment claims were accommodation and food services, with 132,564 initial claims filed in March. The health care and social assistance sector was next with 37,621 new claims, followed by trade with 23,074.
Despite all the negative numbers, some businesses are hiring. The labor department posted more than 99,632 job listings last month. To view the latest listings, click on employgeorgia.com.
Also on the positive side, the labor department reported it has paid out more than $509 million in state and federal unemployment benefits since the middle of last month, with more than 290,000 Georgians receiving benefits last week alone. That’s almost twice the 149,725 who collected unemployment benefits during all of 2019.
ATLANTA – Eight top executives of Georgia-based companies are among dozens of CEOs, economists and scholars President Donald Trump has appointed to look for ways to smoothly reopen a U.S. economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Members of the advisory group represent a variety of industries from agriculture and banking to transportation and sports.
Georgia appointees include Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning to represent the energy sector and David Abney, CEO of UPS Inc., to represent the transportation sector.
From the food and beverage industries, Trump tapped James Quincey, Dan Cathy and Walt Ehmer, CEOs of Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A and Waffle House, respectively.
Three current or former executives at The Home Depot Inc. – CEO Craig Menear, co-founder Ken Langone and co-founder and former CEO Bernie Marcus – will represent the retail sector.
When and how to reopen America for business has been a major point of debate in recent weeks. Public health leaders – including members of the president’s coronavirus task force – have cautioned Trump and the nation’s governors that dropping shelter-in-place orders and social distancing guidelines prematurely could cause a new spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths.
At the same time, conservative and business groups have been pushing to at least start the process of reopening the economy and getting laid off and furloughed workers back on the job.
“It is time to start how we will safely get Americans back to work,” said U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga. “Georgia is home to many businesses that are known worldwide as industry leaders. President Trump is absolutely right to take advantage of that expertise as his administration plans how to reopen our economy.”
While some states, notably New York, appear to have hit a peak in COVID-19 cases and deaths, Georgia is not expected to reach its peak until late this month or early in May. As of noon Wednesday, 14,987 Georgians had tested positive for coronavirus, and 552 had died from the virus.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger discusses an absentee ballot fraud task force on April 6, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
County election officials in Georgia will have the option of installing drop-off boxes for absentee ballots in the June 9 primary election under emergency rules the State Election Board adopted Wednesday.
The new option for voters to send in their ballots comes as coronavirus continues spurring concerns over the safety of voters and poll workers at precincts on Election Day.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office has already started mailing absentee ballot request forms to Georgia’s roughly 7 million registered voters in a move to curb in-person voting on June 9.
On Wednesday, the State Election Board approved emergency rules allowing country registrars to set up drop-off boxes for voters to submit their absentee ballots in person, rather than by mail.
Counties will have the option of installing one or two secure metal boxes at either the registrar’s office or other county property for the June 9 primary, said Ryan Germany, the secretary of state’s general counsel.
The drop-off box method will not be mandatory, Germany said. County registrars may decide whether to install them in their jurisdictions or not. But Germany said he expects widespread use of the boxes if counties have the option.
The state board also approved rules for securing the drop-off boxes, including how they are installed and overseen by certified elections officials to guard against tampering.
“Obviously, the security of the boxes is paramount,” Germany said at a board meeting Wednesday.
The rule approved Wednesday only allows drop-off boxes to be used for the June 9 primary, though Germany said the board could expand the option to more elections in the future if they want.
He also said Raffensperger’s office is looking at federal grants and other funding sources to help counties avoid having to foot the entire bill for installing the boxes.
Board members praised the move and eyed the prospect of permitting the drop-off option in future elections.
“I think this is a very good idea,” said David Worley, a board member and Atlanta attorney. “I’m anxious to see how this may play out in the primary and what we may need to do to use it later in the year.”
Election officials were thrown a curveball with coronavirus right as they were gearing up for the first statewide test of Georgia’s 30,000 new voting machines.
A huge surge in absentee ballot voting is expected with concerns over coronavirus unlikely to abate in the coming months. The option for all Georgia voters to request a mail-in ballot is only being offered for the June 9 primary so far.
Democratic Party leaders in the state have called for Raffensperger to skip the request step and send out absentee ballots now. They are also pushing to make expand absentee voting for the remainder of this year’s elections in Georgia.
Saira Draper, the Democratic Party of Georgia’s voter protection director, praised the move to allow drop-off voting and pressed Raffensperger’s office to lock in funding for counties.
“Offering limited-contact options to voters is prudent,” Draper said.
