ATLANTA – The federal government is stepping up with $1.5 billion to replenish Georgia’s depleted Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday.
The money, which will come through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, will repay funds the state has borrowed to provide unemployment benefits to Georgians who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
“COVID-19 has brought unprecedented challenges to nearly every business – large and small – and upended the lives of millions of Georgians,” Kemp said. “Through no fault of their own, thousands of people became unemployed overnight, businesses were shut down, and countless families suffered.
“Today’s announcement will save Georgia employers millions of dollars in state and federal unemployment taxes, prevent significant layoffs, and save the state millions of dollars in interest payments.”
By allocating up to $1.5 billion in coronavirus relief funds to avoid raising state and federal unemployment taxes, the average Georgia employer will save about $350 per year for each employed worker.
But the state still won’t be out of the woods. With benefit payments projected to outpace tax revenue, Georgia will have to continue to borrow federal funds to pay benefits.
After the Great Recession of 2008-2009, it took three years until tax revenue outpaced benefit payments.
Unless the state raises employers’ tax rates for unemployment insurance or provides an injection of capital through another means, Georgia would have to borrow an additional $1 billion by 2023 to keep up with benefits payments, according to state Department of Labor estimates.
“Without the transfer of funds, the state will have to increase unemployment tax rates for employers between 300% and 400% to make headway on paying off the loan,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said Wednesday. “This reallocation of federal funds will allow more employers across the state to focus on the growth and success of their businesses without having the additional pressure of a rising unemployment tax.”
The line outside South Cobb Regional Library in Mableton stretched around the block on the first day of early voting for the Nov. 3 elections on Oct. 12, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – Georgians are mailing in absentee ballots and voting early in record numbers and are expected to break another record on Election Day, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Wednesday.
“Georgia voters are excited and setting records every hour,” Raffensperger told reporters during a news conference at the state Capitol. “And this is all during a pandemic.”
Raffensperger said 1.6 million voters have requested an absentee ballot. Nearly 500,000 of those votes have been received and accepted, he said.
Another 241,706 voters cast their ballots in person during the first two days of the early voting period this week.
The deluge of early voters resulted in hours-long waits on Monday and Tuesday for some voters.
Raffensperger said his office is adding voting equipment at the precincts experiencing the longest lines.
Besides the sheer volume of early voters, Raffensperger said voters who cast mail-in ballots then showed up at early voting locations anyway are slowing down the process.
Also, it takes time to print the paper backups accompanying the new voting machines the state began using this year, he said.
“That’s going to give voters confidence,” Raffensperger said. “They can look at their vote before they cast it.”
Raffensperger said another contributor to the long lines is the time it takes to clean and sanitize voting machines following each use.
Anheuser-Busch is donating hand sanitizers at early voting locations, while The Home Depot is providing free plastic face shields.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s Georgia chapter and the Metro Atlanta Chamber also have contributed to the effort by sending the secretary of state’s office lists of volunteers willing to serve as poll workers.
“Together, we will have a successful election, keeping all of our options open,” Raffensperger said.
While some of the longest early voting lines have been in Fulton County, early voters at State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta were having to wait 20 minutes at most, Raffensperger said.
Voters in many North Fulton precincts were waiting much longer.
“In other parts of Fulton County, you don’t have as many machines because the building won’t hold them,” Raffensperger said.
Raffensperger urged Georgians who have asked for an absentee ballot to use it rather than show up to vote in person at an early voting location.
Early voting in Georgia leading up to the Nov. 3 election runs through Oct. 30.
ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia (USG) delivered an economic impact of $18.5 billion to the Peach State during fiscal 2019 while generating 157,770 jobs, system Chancellor Steve Wrigley reported this week.
That represents a 4.5% increase over the previous fiscal year.
“USG and our 26 institutions play a critically important role in local economies all across Georgia,” Wrigley said. “At the same time … USG remains committed to improving on the state’s investment in higher education and carrying out our ultimate mission to prepare students for life and work with a college degree.”
The annual economic impact study conducted by the University of Georgia also revealed every dollar spent by the system’s colleges and universities generates an additional 47 cents for the surrounding region’s economy.
Of the jobs generated by USG during fiscal 2019, 33% are on campus, while the remaining 67% are located within institutions’ home communities. On average, each on-campus job led to the creation of two additional off-campus jobs as a result of spending by the institution.
The 2019 study also showed $12.6 billion of the $18.5 billion in economic impact came from direct spending by institutions, while $5.9 billion came from additional spending within their local communities.
The annual study is conducted by Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at UGA’s Terry College of Business.
This year, Humphreys and Alexandra Hill of the Selig Center also conducted a companion study titled “Lifetime Earnings for University System of Georgia Class of 2019.” The center’s research shows lifetime earnings increase substantially with each step up in postsecondary educational attainment, a finding that holds true for both Georgia and the nation as a whole.
On average, each Class of 2019 university system graduate is predicted to earn $888,563 more over the course of their career as a result of their degree from a USG institution.
Carolyn Bourdeaux and Dr. Rich McCormick are vying for Georgia’s 7th Congressional District seat in the Nov. 3 general election. (Photos by candidate campaigns)
Health care, immigration and COVID-19 took center stage at a debate Tuesday between candidates running for Georgia’s hotly contested 7th Congressional District seat ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Dr. Rich McCormick, an emergency room doctor and the Republican nominee, focused on his experience treating COVID-19 patients since March as proof he knows how to combat the disease in hospitals and in the economy.
But his Democratic opponent, Georgia State University professor Carolyn Bourdeaux, slammed McCormick for several statements in recent months in which he appeared to echo President Donald Trump in downplaying the virus, arguing the Republican doctor should know better.
Disputes between the two congressional hopefuls similar to how to handle the COVID-19 crisis going forward played out over several issues in Tuesday’s debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club, including whether to abandon the controversial 287(g) immigration enforcement program and how to improve health care for district residents.
“I got into this race because our elected officials have lost their line of sight to the people of this district, and my opponent represents the positions and policies that have failed us and that have gotten us into this mess now,” Bourdeaux said.
“[Bourdeaux] stands for larger government, more government solutions, more ideas that are based on a centralization of those solutions,” McCormick said. “I stand for believing in people. I believe in business owners more than bureaucrats.”
Covering most of Gwinnett County and part of Forsyth County, the 7th District race is expected to be close. Current seat-holder U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, a Republican who is not seeking re-election, narrowly defeated Bourdeaux in 2018 by fewer than 500 votes to win a fourth term.
Bourdeaux, a former state budget advisor who is making her second run at the seat, has mirrored state and federal Democratic candidates in pushing health-care issues to the front of the race, arguing Republican leaders botched the COVID-19 response while trying to tear down the Affordable Care Act.
“It is morally wrong, it is fiscally irresponsible, and I am here to make sure the people of this district have the health care that they need,” Bourdeaux said Tuesday.
McCormick has leaned on bedrock Republican stances for his campaign, evidenced by his support for changing the extra weekly unemployment checks for laid-off workers during the pandemic from a flat $600 to an amount calculated based on an employee’s pre-pandemic wages. He has also accused U.S. House Democratic leaders of blocking another round of COVID-19 relief.
“We need to have autonomy and we need to push this down to medical professionals,” McCormick said. “Stop having the bureaucracies get in the way of progress.”
Bourdeaux punched back Tuesday, noting 120 doctors and infectious disease experts have urged the Medical Association of Georgia to abandon its endorsement of McCormick over his calls to quickly reopen sections of the economy amid the virus.
“One of the reasons it is so shocking to me that you continue to downplay the virus is you see the front-line impact of it,” Bourdeaux said.
McCormick countered that because he has “been on the front lines intubating patients,” he has seen how only certain segments of the population are at serious risk from the virus such as the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.
His campaign has also accused the 120 doctors calling for his endorsement to be dropped of being partisan in favor of Democratic leaders and candidates via campaign and cause donations.
“I’m just telling you what I’m seeing first-hand,” McCormick said. “And I think we can get back to work safely.”
Immigration reform is also a key issue for the 7th District, which has seen a growing immigrant population in recent years and has adopted the 287(g) information-sharing program between the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Bourdeaux said she would abolish the program if elected, calling it a tool to harass local Latino communities. She also slammed McCormick for seeking to woo immigrant voters while simultaneously supporting more hardline policies like reducing overall entry and no longer granting citizenship to those born in the U.S.
“Rich McCormick talks a good game about immigrants,” Bourdeaux said. “But he is supported by NumbersUSA, an extreme anti-immigrant group.”
McCormick dismissed Bourdeaux’s attack, calling it “a bunch of lies” while arguing many immigrants in the district support the 287(g) program because it helps weed out undocumented persons who may have criminal histories.
“To say that it’s better and safer to not put violent criminals out of the United States who are from another country is certainly not safe,” McCormick said. “I think that’s double-speak and typical hypocrisy from the left.”
Early voting for the Nov. 3 general election started Monday and runs through Oct. 30.
This story has been updated to clarify Dr. McCormick’s position on the $600 in extra unemployment checks during the pandemic and to note his campaign’s stance on doctors opposed to his endorsement by the Medical Association of Georgia.
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath (left) is battling to keep her seat against a challenge from its former occupant, Karen Handel (right), in the Nov. 3 general election. (Photos by candidate campaigns)
It was a dogfight from the start in a debate Tuesday between U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Karen Handel ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.
McBath, who beat Handel in 2018 to win the once-heavily conservative district in the suburbs north of Atlanta, led off with a quick jab at Handel for moving to cut funding for cancer screenings to the pro-abortion rights group Planned Parenthood.
Handel later jabbed back, arguing she is a supporter of standalone legislation to protect health care for people with pre-existing conditions and has made no secret of her staunch opposition to abortion.
The back-and-forth between McBath and Handel highlighted abortion as a wedge issue in the race for the 6th Congressional District, which has trended blue in recent years following a long history as a Republican stronghold.
“Voters cannot trust you to stand up for a woman’s right to choose, Ms. Handel,” McBath said during the debate Tuesday hosted by the Atlanta Press Club.
Handel, who served one term as Georgia’s secretary of state and one term in Congress before being ousted by McBath, sought to tie McBath to U.S. House Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi who figure as routine punching bags for Republican candidates.
In particular, she pressed McBath on why congressional Democrats have balked at working with U.S. Senate Republicans on passing a second round of COVID-19 relief, arguing the higher-price package favored by Democrats includes unnecessary spending items compared to the Republican proposal.
“It is just an absolute shame that Democrats like Lucy McBath are playing political games with the package,” Handel said.
Both campaigns have poured millions into television ads and mailers in recent months to gain an edge in what could be a close race similar to 2018, when McBath won by a roughly 1% margin – about 4,000 votes – over Handel.
Handel has eyed a rematch ever since, routinely pouncing on McBath in social-media messaging and in public speeches. She also fended off Republican competitors in the June 9 primary who cast Handel as a damaged candidate incapable of beating McBath after losing once already.
Meanwhile, the tight race appeared to force the incumbent McBath to go on the offensive during Tuesday’s debate, which saw her accusing Handel of obstructing voter rights while secretary of state and trying to hide income from the Georgia Life Alliance on her federal campaign disclosure forms.
In response, Handel sought to draw McBath into revealing whether she would support moves to “pack” the U.S. Supreme Court, or add additional seats to the bench, if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is elected next month. McBath, like Biden, did not answer in the affirmative or negative.
“The only ones who are trying to pack the court are Mitch McConnell and President Trump,” McBath said.
“She is a one-issue activist who will not speak up or stand up for you,” Handel said of her opponent.
Early voting in the Nov. 3 general election began on Monday and runs through Oct. 30.
This story originally described Planned Parenthood as a “pro-life” group. It has been revised to describe this group as “anti-abortion rights.”
