ATLANTA – First-time unemployment claims rose significantly in Georgia last week, mirroring a national increase in joblessness.
Initial claims in Georgia were up 13,850 to 33,003, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
Since mid-March, when the coronavirus pandemic began forcing Georgia businesses to close and lay off employees, the state has paid out $16.3 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits to more than 4.1 million Georgians, exceeding the last nine years combined.
But the federal portion of those benefits is uncertain going forward unless Congress passes a new economic stimulus package. All federal unemployment benefits authorized last March through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act are due to expire the day after Christmas.
“There is no use speculating over what could potentially be passed by Congress,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said Thursday. “While Congress continues to deliberate over the future of these programs, we will focus on issuing payments to all eligible Georgians as the original CARES Act comes to a close.”
Claimants are encouraged to continue requesting benefits after the CARES program ends in case Congress passes a new stimulus initiative or extends the current benefits.
During the week ending Dec. 5, the job sector that accounted for the most initial unemployment claims in Georgia was accommodation and food services with 7,075 claims. The manufacturing sector was next with 6,376 claims, followed by administrative and support services with 3,370.
More than 166,000 jobs are currently listed on EmployGeorgia, with more than half advertising annual salaries of more than $40,000. The labor department offers online resources for finding career opportunities, building a resume and assisting with other reemployment needs.
ATLANTA – Both of the main parties disputing the rollout of legislation aimed at expanding broadband service in rural Georgia criticized a new proposal brought to the state Public Service Commission (PSC) Thursday.
The PSC’s advisory staff is recommending that electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) in parts of Georgia lacking broadband significantly lower the fees they charge telecom providers to attach broadband technology to utility poles.
At the same time, EMCs in areas already served with broadband would be allowed to charge similar rates to what they are now collecting or even higher fees.
Such a bifurcated system would disproportionately harm EMCs and their customers in rural communities most in need of broadband, Robert Remar, a lawyer representing 38 Georgia EMCs, told members of the commission’s Telecommunications Committee Thursday.
For example, Cobb EMC, with a primarily urban and suburban customer base, would be able to charge telecom providers $25.42 per pole for attachments in the parts of its service area that already have broadband, under the staff proposal.
However, Moultrie-based Colquitt EMC, which serves a large number of rural customers without broadband, would be able to charge telecom providers only $3.86 per pole in unserved portions of its service area, the lowest pole-attachment rate in the staff plan.
“The poorest, most rural EMCs, will be subsidizing telecommunications companies,” Remar said. “That’s just not fair.”
But one of the main players on the telecom side isn’t happy with the PSC staff proposal, either.
Robert Highsmith, a lawyer representing the Georgia Cable Association, said failing to set a single statewide rate for pole attachments would result in such high rates that telecom providers wouldn’t be able to afford to live up to commitments they’ve made for significant investments in broadband projects in rural Georgia.
“Under this recommendation, those commitments are in jeopardy,” Highsmith said. “The eight-figure sums … programmed for Georgia will be deployed elsewhere.”
The General Assembly passed legislation last June aimed at expanding broadband in rural Georgia. House Bill 244 gave the PSC the task of setting pole attachment rates by the end of this year.
Highsmith suggested Thursday that, with the disputing parties so far apart, the commission put off a decision on rates until early next year. He noted the legislation isn’t due to take effect until July 1.
But having sat through four days of hearings on the issue last month, commissioners seemed anxious to move forward.
“Punting at this point is not the way to go,” Commissioner Tricia Pridemore said.
The PSC is schedule to vote on the staff plan next week.
Georgia Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry
ATLANTA – The coronavirus pandemic is generating all-time high truck traffic on Georgia’s interstate highways, state Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry said Thursday.
Georgians worried about exposure to COVID-19 have switched from shopping at brick-and-mortar stores and restaurant dining to ordering food and retail goods online.
“There’s a lot of freight being moved because … everything is on your doorstep,” McMurry told members of the State Transportation Board.
After a huge drop-off in traffic volumes early in the pandemic, overall traffic has recovered to near normal on the interstates and is down only 5% to 10% on state highways, McMurry said.
However, there is a difference in commuting patterns in metro Atlanta, he said.
“It doesn’t appear [commuters] are out as early as they used to be,” McMurry said. “But it builds up in the afternoons.”
Board member Johnny Floyd of Cordele said the growth in truck traffic is making it increasingly difficult for truck drivers to find places to park.
What to do about the shortage of truck parking is expected to be among the recommendations of the Georgia Freight & Logistics Commission when it issues its final report later this month.
The panel of Georgia lawmakers, local government officials and logistics industry executives has been meeting for the last two years to look for ways to move freight more efficiently through Georgia.
ATLANTA – Judges across Georgia should be prepared to hold off resuming in-person court proceedings if the recent surge of COVID-19 cases makes returning to courtrooms unsafe, Georgia Chief Justice Harold Melton said Wednesday.
Melton’s announcement came as he signed his ninth order extending the statewide judicial emergency he first declared back in mid-March, when the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold in Georgia.
Wednesday’s order is similar to monthly orders Melton has issued since September authorizing judges to resume grand jury proceedings and jury trials, as long as the courts followed strict public health guidelines safeguarding all those entering the courthouse.
However, the order also acknowledged recent public health reports that the spread of COVID-19 is worsening significantly in many parts of the state.
“While this order does not impose a blanket shutdown of non-essential in-person proceedings, courts should remain vigilant of changing COVID-19 conditions and be prepared to suspend jury trials as necessary and to reconsider grand jury proceedings as well,” the order states.
The order goes on to warn that courts deciding to hold in-person proceedings should only do so if they can maintain safety.
“We recognize there is such a thing as Zoom fatigue,” Melton said. “But we urge people not to get weary just yet. Now is not the time to relax, especially as we anticipate the arrival of vaccinations in the next few months.”
The order urges judges who decide to conduct in-person proceedings to manage their calendars in a way that minimizes wait times and avoids having groups of people congregating in the courtroom or other common areas of the courthouse. It also suggests that district attorneys prioritize for indictment criminal cases of defendants who have been detained.
Previous orders had placed a stay on the legal requirement that detained defendants have a grand jury hearing within 90 days or be granted a bond.
“We will be lifting that stay at some point and prosecutors should be prioritizing the cases they need to present to grand juries to reduce backlogs,” Melton said.
Wednesday’s order extends the judicial emergency for another 30 days through Jan. 8.
ATLANTA – Georgia tax collections rose in November for the second consecutive month, the state Department of Revenue reported Tuesday.
The state brought in nearly $1.96 billion last month, an increase of $150.9 million – or 8.3% – over November of last year. That represented a much healthier bounce than the 1.8% increase in revenues in October.
Individual income taxes were up 14.3%, driven largely by a 13.7% increase in individual withholding payments.
Gross sales tax payments rose by 6% last month compared to November of last year. However, net sales taxes declined by 1.3%.
Corporate income tax collections shot up in November by 284%, resulting primarily from an even larger 419% increase in payments. Tax refunds fell by 31%.
With Georgia drivers back on the roads despite the persistence of the coronavirus pandemic, the state took in 1.6% more in motor fuel tax revenues last month than last year’s November total.
The stronger numbers in November helped boost state tax receipts for the fiscal year thus far by $551.1 million, an increase of 5.7% over the first five months of fiscal 2020.
