ATLANTA – Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is proposing to streamline the processing of business license applications to help the state’s economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Raffensperger’s office oversees more than 135,000 different business licenses in Georgia. Lowering the barriers to licensure would make it easier for businesses to open up and hire Georgians thrown out of work when the economy shut down, he said.
“We want to make sure people do a good job,” Raffensperger said Tuesday during a webinar for small business owners sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and Georgia Hispanic Chamber. “[But] we don’t want to create barriers that keep them from enjoying their professions and tie them up in needless red tape.”
Raffensperger said COVID-19 has not killed Georgians’ ambitions to start and grow businesses. Despite the pandemic, more than 730,000 Georgia businesses have renewed their licenses this year, while 24,737 new businesses have applied for licenses, he said.
“That shows the entrepreneurial spirit within all of us as business owners,” he said. “COVID-19 has been a wakeup call. … It’s going to give us an opportunity to grow and adapt, not just retreat.”
The secretary of state’s office already has acted to ease requirements for a nursing license to help get more nurses on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. In March, the office’s Professional Licensing Boards Division began issuing temporary permits for out-of-state nurses to work in Georgia.
Raffensperger said he will ask the General Assembly to approve his plan to ease licensing restrictions when lawmakers resume the 2020 legislative session later this spring. The session was suspended indefinitely in mid-March due to coronavirus.
Republican candidates for a congressional seat in Northwest Georgia took turns Monday touting their similar conservative views and pouncing on supposed weak spots in each other’s backgrounds during a debate ahead of the June 9 primary.
In all, nine Republican candidates have signed up for the race to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, a Republican, who announced late last year that he will not seek re-election. He has held the 14th District seat since first winning election in 2010.
The reliably Republican district stretches from Paulding and Haralson counties north through Rome, Calhoun and Dalton to the Tennessee line.
Of the nine Republican candidates, eight appeared in Monday’s debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club. They alternated between praise for President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies, disdain for congressional Democrats and a handful of jabs at each other.
The race has also drawn one Democratic candidate, Kevin Van Ausdal, an implementation specialist. Van Ausdal did not participate in the primary debate because he is the only Democratic candidate.
The Debate
Without much daylight between them in terms of policies and values, some of the Republican candidates took to attacking each other’s records.
John Barge, a former Georgia state school superintendent, singled out Marjorie Taylor Greene’s decision to back out of the 6th District congressional race earlier this year and enter the 14th District contest. Barge labeled Greene an “opportunist”.
“I think you’re running to get to Washington,” Barge said.
Greene, a construction company owner, stressed that her staunchly conservative values align with many of the district’s voters and touted endorsements from influential members of Congress like U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
“I’m 100% pro-life, 100% pro-gun, and I’m the strongest supporter of President Trump and always have been,” Greene said.
Greene then attacked Barge for implementing federal Common Core education standards while serving as state superintendent. He batted back the criticism, saying he was ordered to do so by the state Board of Education despite not supporting the program.
Barge also said he supports ending federal oversight of schools by abolishing the U.S. Department of Education and handing authority over education matters and funding to states.
“I think giving states the flexibility to direct those funds in the way they need them is the way to go,” Barge said.
John Cowan, a neurosurgeon who owns a toy shop, was criticized by some candidates for buying products made in China and not in Northwest Georgia. Cowan defended his business practices, saying he has experience negotiating with Chinese manufacturers.
“I’ve been tougher on China than anyone on this panel because I’ve actually engaged them,” Cowan said.
Matt Laughridge, a businessman, drew a line in the sand by saying that he thinks “personally, we should cut off China, not team up with them.”
“If you’re sick of seeing ‘Made in China’ on everything, elect me,” Laughridge said.
Bill Hembree, a former state House representative, was blunt about Cowan.
“You’re getting rich off China,” said Hembree, who also noted he supports term limits.
Cowan also said he favors moves to reopen local economies emerging from the coronavirus pandemic amid his background in the medical field and that there needs to be a balance between science and economic needs.
“We have to reopen our economy and preserve our freedoms and meld the two together,” Cowan said.
Greene also said she backs calls by Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp to reopen many local businesses, describing efforts to reopen local economies as “the greatest stimulus.”
“I believe more than anything that we need to save our economy and stop socialism,” Greene said.
For his part, Hembree touted his experience in the Georgia House of Representatives, noting that he decided to run for Congress to back Trump amid opposition from congressional Democrats.
“We need to save this country and we need to save the future,” Hembree said.
State Rep. Kevin Cooke, R-Carrollton, also highlighted his General Assembly experience as an asset setting him apart from his competitors, particularly as congressional and state lawmakers deal with the current economic fallout of COVID-19.
“It very much highlights the difference between my candidacy and my opponents’ candidacy,” said Cooke, noting he would support requiring the federal government to have a balanced budget.
Andy Gunther, a retired U.S. Marine and businessman, was among several candidates who advocated for a balanced budget. He said his business experience would go a long way toward righting financial troubles at the federal level.
“A lot of the solutions to the problems that we have in the federal government are business solutions,” Gunther said.
Ben Bullock, a real estate investor and U.S. Air Force veteran, urged conservatives to oppose moves by many Democratic leaders to provide universal health-care coverage especially amid coronavirus, framing such efforts as “authoritarian behavior on the left.”
“To me, it is a total privilege,” Bullock said.
Bullock also echoed other candidates in calling for U.S. troops to return from the war in Afghanistan.
“It’s a fight that is now [Afghanistan’s] and not ours anymore and that needs to be reflected in our national security policy,” Bullock said.
Clayton Fuller, a prosecutor and U.S. Air Force veteran, did not participate in Monday’s debate because he was deployed with the Air National Guard to assist with the coronavirus response.
ATLANTA – It was open season on former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel Monday when four Republican opponents who have never held public office teed off on her in an hour-long debate streamed by Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Business owner Blake Harbin, former Small Business Administration loan specialist Mykel Barthelemy, businessman and author Joe Profit and retired hair salon owner Paulette Smith portrayed Handel as a career politician who lost Georgia’s 6th Congressional District seat two years ago to a Democratic “newby” with little name recognition.
The winner of the June 9 Republican primary will take on first-term incumbent Democrat Lucy McBath in what once was a heavily Republican district stretching from East Cobb County through North Fulton and North DeKalb counties.
“How in the world can you win as a challenger when you couldn’t win as an incumbent?” Profit asked in a direct exchange with Handel. “You cannot win.”
Handel responded by pointing to a record of accomplishments both in the public and private sectors, including creating jobs as CEO of the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, balancing Fulton County’s budget as county commission chairman without raising taxes and putting in place a photo ID requirement for voters as Georgia secretary of state.
After running unsuccessfully for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, Handel captured the 6th Congressional District seat in 2017 in a special election over well-funded Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath, a gun control advocate who lost her son to gun violence, upended Handel two years ago by a narrow margin.
“I am the strongest candidate in this race … the only Republican with the organization and the money to win,” Handel said. “I’m proud of my service and engagement in the community.”
Besides attacking Handel, the other candidates touted their qualifications to serve in Congress.
Harbin, who founded his own mortgage company after recovering from a serous accident, and Profit, a former running back with the Atlanta Falcons who founded a multi-franchise restaurant operation, said their business expertise is especially critical to help with the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic
“I’ve been in business for decades,” Profit said. “I have the knowledge, the experience and the work ethic to help [President Donald Trump] reopen the economy.”
“Now more than ever, we need people in Congress who know how to create something from nothing,” Harbin added. “I’ve built a business from scratch. I’ve hired and brought jobs right here to the 6th District.”
Barthelemy, who is African-American, said the Trump presidency has been good for black Americans. She cited his support for increased funding for historically black colleges and universities and praised his work to reduce black and Hispanic unemployment to record lows before COVID-19 devastated the economy.
“President Trump has done more than even [former President Barack] Obama has done for the black community,” she said.
Both Smith and Barthelemy said they don’t live in the 6th District. Federal law does not require members of the House of Representatives to live in the district they represent.
But Smith, who lives in Kennesaw, said she has spent a lot of time there and knows its people well.
“I’m running because I love my district,” she said. “The Democratic Party has done nothing. I have to stand up and do something.”
Barthelemy lives in Sandy Springs, “a few yards” from the 6th District, as she described it.
Georgia school officials agreed Monday to distribute around $411 million in federal funding to help local school districts shore up their budgets and programs as coronavirus continues pummeling the state’s economy.
The relief funds come from about $457 million approved for Georgia public schools as part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The money is poised to help pay for online learning programs, school meals, staffing expenses to offset upcoming budget reductions, and special services for low-income, homeless, migrant and foster-care students.
The bulk of Georgia’s $457 million share from the CARES Act education fund will go in varying amounts to nearly 200 county and city public school districts, plus about 30 charter schools. Roughly $45 million will be set aside for emergency use.
Local allocations range from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars for smaller school districts up to more than $30 million each for Gwinnett and DeKalb county school districts.
Members of the Georgia Board of Education approved funding allocations during a teleconference meeting Monday.
“Getting these funds to the local districts as soon as possible is going to be important for them,” said Scott Sweeney, the board chair.
In-person classes were cancelled across Georgia for the rest of the school year in late March, forcing the state’s nearly 2 million students to finish their studies online and exposing gaps in internet access among many underserved Georgia schools.
Last week, the board approved sending about $21.5 million in federal grant funds for nearly 200 struggling schools to buy laptops, portable internet hotspots and remote-learning software.
School districts are also facing budget issues stemming from anticipated revenue shortfalls prompted by business closures and social-distancing measures implemented to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Officials have already begun hashing out how to trim the state Board of Education’s budget by 14% for the upcoming 2021 fiscal year, per orders last Friday by top budget-drafting lawmakers in the General Assembly.
Those cuts could result in staff furloughs or shortened work weeks on top of program impacts, board members said Monday. State agencies have until May 20 to hand in proposals for budget cuts.
“There are certain programs that are going to be more personnel and some programs that are going to be other items,” said Mike Royal, a board member. “It’s going to be tough but we’re going to get through it.”
The board is expected to discuss budget cuts in more detail during its next meeting on May 14.
U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler speaks at the State Capitol after qualifying for the 2020 election on March 2, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., is fighting back against attacks from political opponents with three TV ads touting generous acts she has undertaken to help in the battle against coronavirus.
A $4 million ad campaign launched Monday labels as “liberal lies” and a “witch hunt” allegations the wealthy Atlanta businesswoman bought and sold millions of dollars in stocks shortly after a Jan. 24 closed-door briefing she and other senators attended on the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.
Loeffler announced last month she planned to put an end to the distraction by liquidating her family’s holdings in stocks in individual companies and moving those investments into exchange-traded funds and mutual funds.
The 30-second ads point to Loeffler’s decision to donate her Senate salary to the fight against coronavirus, her contribution of $1 million to the nonprofit foundation run by Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, which the pandemic hit particularly hard, and her role in launching an online portal to help families get the assistance they need.
“While the left, media and her opponents play politics … she has worked around the clock to deliver relief to those impacted by COVID-19,” Loeffler campaign spokesman Stephen Lawson said. “Kelly will not be distracted by their false attacks.”
Loeffler, appointed last December by Gov. Brian Kemp, to succeed retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson, will have to overcome a lengthy list of challengers in November if she is to retain the seat and finish out Isakson’s six-year term.
More than 20 candidates from both parties will be on the ballot Nov. 3 in a “free-for-all” election likely to require a runoff. The challengers include Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins of Gainesville and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, pastor at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.
