ATLANTA – Some Georgia employers are having a hard time filling job openings because generous unemployment benefits are encouraging them to stay home, state Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said Thursday.
Before $600 weekly unemployment checks authorized by Congress during the early stage of the coronavirus pandemic ran out last year, unemployed Georgians receiving maximum state and federal benefits were bringing in $50,180 per year, Butler told state lawmakers during a House Appropriations subcommittee meeting.
Even those receiving minimum state and federal benefits were taking home the equivalent of $34,060 a year, he said.
At the same time, about 90% of Georgians receiving state unemployment benefits were earning $30,000 or less before being laid off, Butler said.
“Companies are having to increase entry-level pay” to compete, he said.
Butler said generous unemployment benefits also are making it difficult for the labor department to hire the additional staff the agency needs to cope with the massive increase in unemployed Georgians seeking benefits since COVID-19 shut down the state’s economy last March and forced businesses to lay off workers.
The labor department has paid out nearly $17.3 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits to more than 4.3 million jobless Georgians since the virus struck, more than during the last nine years combined.
“We’ve been working seven days a week pretty much since this started,” Butler said.
Butler said the agency has brought back retirees to help with the increased claims workload, hired temporary workers and redirected current staff from other duties into handling claims. The number of employees working claims has more than doubled from 330 to about 700, he said.
Butler said some of the more recent economic numbers give him reason for optimism that an end is in sight.
Georgia has gained back 82% of the jobs lost since the pandemic first gained a foothold in Georgia last March, the labor department reported Thursday.
The state’s unemployment rate fell by a slight 0.1% last month to 5.6%, while the number of jobs in December grew by 44,700 to 4.56 million.
“December is yet another month where we have seen job growth throughout the state,” Butler said. “We more than doubled our job growth from November, which is very promising, considering how challenging of a year this has been.”
First-time unemployment claims in Georgia were down last week after increasing significantly last month. Unemployed Georgians filed 35,912 initial claims last week, down 1,127 from the previous week.
However, that followed a 19% increase in initial unemployment claims filed last month compared to November.
During the week ending Jan. 16, the job sector accounting for the most first-time unemployment claims in Georgia was accommodation and food services with 8,132 claims. The manufacturing job sector was next with 5,040 claims, followed by administrative and support services with 3,726.
More than half of the more than 170,000 jobs currently listed on EmployGeorgia advertise annual salaries above $40,000.
Resources for reemployment assistance along with information on filing an unemployment claim can be found on the labor department’s webpage at dol.georgia.gov.
State health agencies in Georgia are weathering last year’s budget cuts from the COVID-19 pandemic with a boost from the federal government and by working more remotely, several agency heads told state lawmakers Thursday.
An increase of hundreds of millions of dollars in the federal share of Medicaid costs helped the state Department of Community Health (DCH) cover more Medicaid-eligible families and children “than we have ever had before,” said DCH Commissioner Frank Berry.
The number of Medicaid recipients in Georgia spiked by more than 150,000 between March and August of last year, increasing to about 2 million recipients as of September, according to federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data.
DCH officials managed to save nearly $345 million under a federal policy allowing states to reduce their payment shares for Medicaid through the end of June this year, after which officials expect Georgia’s Medicaid costs to increase by about $201 million in fiscal 2022.
Larger federal spending on Medicaid also saved about $32 million in costs that would have been cut last year from the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), which treats more than 200,000 Georgians with mental health and substance abuse issues.
Mental-health caseworkers benefitted from relaxed rules on telehealth that allowed them to keep seeing clients remotely who may have otherwise fallen into crisis situations requiring emergency hospital care, said DBHDD Commissioner Judy Fitzgerald.
“There is no aspect of health and human services that has not been touched by the pandemic,” Fitzgerald said. “Every impact of our delivery service has been dramatically changed very rapidly as a result of [COVID-19].”
Health-focused agencies pitched lean budget proposals Thursday after weathering roughly $2.2 billion in spending cuts last year across state government from the pandemic. State lawmakers are assessing budgets through June 2022 that would avoid the 10% cuts approved during last year’s legislative session.
Federal funds also propped up the state Department of Human Services (DHS) with $30 million for home-delivered meals and caregiver support for the thousands of elderly Georgians the agency serves, said DHS Commissioner Robyn Crittenden. Her agency is seeking an extra $1 million for more elder-abuse caseworkers.
Meanwhile, the state Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) is set for about $14 million in savings after adopting out foster kids to homes last year. DFCS Director Tom Rawlings told lawmakers the agency has reduced the number of foster children in its care from 15,000 to 11,200 since 2018 but could move faster if placement hearings were not suspended due to the pandemic.
“We’ve got to have those hearings to move those children into successful permanency,” Rawlings said.
With the budget picture clearer, agencies like Berry’s DCH are preparing to spend millions of dollars on implementing Gov. Brian Kemp’s health insurance changes starting in July. DCH officials are also grappling with a nearly $700-million deficit projected in the next few years for the state health benefit plan, which covers around 665,000 government and school employees in Georgia.
The amended fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022 budgets for the agencies are poised for approval in the coming weeks as the General Assembly continues the 2021 legislative session.
ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives got some new committee chairmen Wednesday, as the chamber’s Committee on Assignments promoted some committee chairs to more prestigious chairmanships left vacant by departing members.
The Ways and Means Committee, which handles all tax legislation, will now be headed by Rep. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire. He will take over from former Rep. Brett Harrell, R-Snellville, who lost his bid for re-election last fall.
Blackmon’s former chairmanship of the Governmental Affairs Committee will be assumed by Rep. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville.
Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, will move over from the House Education Committee to chair the Transportation Committee. Former Transportation Committee Chairman Kevin Tanner, R-Dawsonville, left the House last year in an unsuccessful run for Congress.
Rep. Matt Dubnik, R-Gainesville, will take over as the new Education Committee chairman.
With the retirement from the House of former Rep. Tom McCall, R-Elberton, Rep. Robert Dickey, R-Musella, will take the reins of the House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee.
Rep. James Burchett, R-Waycross, is the new chairman of the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee. He’s replacing Rep. Chuck Efstration, R-Dacula, who is moving over from Judiciary Non-Civil to chair the other House Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over legislation related to civil law.
And in a rare move, a Democrat is going to chair a committee in the Republican-controlled House. Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, will chair the committee that oversees MARTA.
Most House committee chairs for the 2021-22 term will remain unchanged, including Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn; Economic Development & Tourism Committee Chairman Ron Stephens, R-Savannah; Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Committee Chairman Don Parsons, R-Marietta; Health & Human Services Committee Chairman Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta; Higher Education Committee Chairman Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta; Natural Resources & Environment Committee Chairman Lynn Smith, R-Newnan; Regulated Industries Committee Chairman Alan Powell, R-Hartwell; and Rules Committee Chairman Richard Smith, R-Columbus.
“We have a dynamic group of leaders joining the ranks of our committee chairmen this year,” said House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, who chairs the Committee on Assignments. “I appreciate their willingness to serve this House and the citizens of our great state.”
Then-U.S. Senate candidates Jon Ossoff (left) and Rev. Raphael Warnock (right) of Georgia bump elbows on the campaign trail in Atlanta during their runoff races. Ossoff and Warnock took office in the Senate on Jan. 20, 2021. (Photo by Beau Evans)
U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia were sworn in Wednesday hours after President Joe Biden was inaugurated the nation’s 46th commander-in-chief.
With Georgia’s two new senators now seated, Democrats have control of both chambers in Congress and the White House for at least the next two years until the 2022 midterm elections. Ossoff and Warnock, both Democrats, unseated Georgia’s incumbent Republican senators earlier this month, marking the first time since 2002 that Democrats will occupy the state’s two Senate seats.
Ossoff and Warnock took the oath of office with newly inaugurated Vice President Kamala Harris, who became the first woman and person of South Asian descent to hold the nation’s second-highest office. Harris campaigned several times in Georgia ahead of the Nov. 3 general election and Jan. 5 runoffs and now holds a tie-breaking vote in the Senate thanks in large part to Ossoff’s and Warnock’s wins.
Georgia Democratic leaders showered Ossoff and Warnock with praise shortly after they took the oath of office from the Senate floor late Wednesday afternoon.
“With today’s swearing-in, our Senators are ready to deliver on health, jobs, and justice for all Georgians,” said U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, who chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia. “I know they will make us proud.”
Ossoff, a 33-year-old Atlanta native who runs an investigative journalism company, is now the youngest Senate member and Georgia’s first Jewish representative in the chamber. He defeated former U.S. Sen. David Perdue by 54,944 votes in the Jan. 5 runoffs, limiting the Republican to a single term.
Warnock, a Savannah native and senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, becomes the first Black senator after preaching from the same pulpit once held by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He ousted Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler by 93,272 votes, ending her tenure barely a year after she was appointed to fill the seat vacated by retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson.
Warnock will need to run again in 2022 for a full 6-year term since his current tenure only covers the final two years of Isakson’s term.
The Democrats’ wins came after Biden beat former President Donald Trump in Georgia by 11,779 votes in the Nov. 3 general election, becoming the first Democratic candidate to carry the Peach State since 1992. At his inauguration Wednesday, Biden called on Americans to focus on unity and truth after the divisive four years of the Trump administration.
“We must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured,” Biden said. “Disagreement must not lead to disunion … I will be a president for all Americans.”
Record-breaking turnout in the Senate runoffs solidified Georgia’s position as a battleground state with closely fought elections for at least the next decade and drew the eyes of America and the world, summoning nearly $1 billion in campaign and outreach spending along with visits from dozens of celebrities and national politicians.
Both Democrats overcame fierce Republican attacks seeking to by Perdue and Loeffler to paint them as socialists, a campaign strategy many political analysts agree failed as Ossoff and Warnock stuck with more hopeful messages on health care , criminal justice, workers’ rights and the COVID-19 response.
Perdue, a former corporate executive from Sea Island, and Loeffler, an Atlanta businesswoman, were also hamstrung by their loyalty to Trump as the outgoing president trashed Georgia’s election system following his election loss. Both Republicans conceded defeat earlier this month.
The Biden administration now faces an easier road to appointing Cabinet members and passing legislation with Democratic majorities in both chambers. Nonetheless, the new president has pledged to take a moderate approach and work with leaders on both sides of the aisle.
“Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause: The cause of democracy,” Biden said at Wednesday’s inauguration. “At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”
Veteran Georgia Public Service Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, a Republican, was also sworn in Wednesday to another six-year term in a ceremony at the Jackson County Courthouse. He defeated Democratic challenger Daniel Blackmon by a narrow margin in the Jan. 5 runoffs.
Visitation to Alpine Helen has been strong despite the pandemic.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s chief business recruiter Wednesday pitched a $1 million plan to resurrect a tourism industry suffering massive losses since coronavirus-fearing travelers stopped taking vacation trips and attending business conferences.
The boost in tourism marketing funds recommended in Gov. Brian Kemp’s $26.3 billion mid-year budget would be used to double down on current efforts to convince Georgians to keep their travel plans in state, Georgia Commissioner of Economic Development Pat Wilson told members of the state House and Senate Appropriations committees during a second day of budget hearings.
The money also would go toward marketing Georgia tourist attractions in neighboring states and – once the pandemic eases – reaching out to draw visitors from farther afield, Wilson said.
Georgia’s tourism industry, which accounted for $69 billion in annual economic impact before the COVID-19 outbreak, has lost $11.7 billion since the pandemic hit, Wilson said.
“Travel industry losses are significant and they’re driving up our unemployment numbers,” he said. “If you back out travel and hospitality, we’d practically be at full employment.”
Wilson said having adequate resources for tourism marketing is going to be critical after vaccinations are completed and the pandemic has run its course.
“This is going to be a competitive market,” he said. “Every state around us is going to put in a tremendous amount of money to do the same thing.”
Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Steve Gooch suggested the economic development agency work with the outdoor recreation industry on tourism marketing.
“The RV industry probably had their best year,” said Gooch, R-Dahlonega. “COVID-19 drove people out of the cities and up into the hills.”
Indeed, many state parks have enjoyed record visitation during the pandemic.
“[The parks] were one of the few safe places where people could get out of their homes … and get some exercise,” said Mark Williams, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which runs the parks system.
Wilson said the economic development department is working with the U.S. Travel Association to bring back conventions, which the pandemic ground to a halt. Some of the proposed $1 million tourism marketing appropriation would go to promote Georgia as a host site for conventions that would be held using safety guidelines, he said.
“There are safe events we can do,” he said.
Wilson said tourism has started to rebound in some parts of Georgia even amid the pandemic, notably Helen and Savannah.
“As vaccines continue to move out through the state, travelers are going to feel more comfortable,” he said. “You’re going to see them come back.”
