Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan outlines his agenda for the 2020 legislative session at the State Capitol on January 13, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan pledged Wednesday to take a 14% pay cut in his salary to match what state agencies in Georgia are being asked to trim amid the coronavirus-prompted economic downturn.
State agencies are being asked to slice their budgets by 14% ahead of expected revenue shortfalls in Georgia of between $3 billion and $4 billion, as state lawmakers scramble to draft a budget for the 2021 fiscal year before a July 1 deadline.
The voluntary 14% reduction in Duncan’s annual salary rounds out to nearly $13,000. Georgia’s lieutenant governor currently makes about $91,000 per year.
In a statement Wednesday, Duncan framed the pay cut as a show of solidarity with state agencies and an example of how “it will be necessary for everyone to make sacrifices” as lawmakers craft the budget in the coming weeks.
“The fiscal impact of the coronavirus on our state’s budget is severe, and the General Assembly is tasked with making serious cuts to government services and programs, which will affect the lives of the Georgians we serve,” Duncan said.
“These are difficult times accompanied by a lot of uncertainty, but we are all a team, and meaningful savings will come as we work together to make the required adjustments,” he added.
The steep revenue decline has been fueled by drastic slowdowns in economic activity among several economic sectors in Georgia like travel, tourism, logistics, hospitality and food service.
Around 10% of the state’s workforce primarily in the hospitality and food-service industries has filed for unemployment benefits in recent weeks, marking an extraordinary uptick in out-of-work Georgians.
Last week, top budget-writing lawmakers in the General Assembly directed state agencies to hand in proposals by May 20 for how to make across-the-board cuts totaling up to $3.8 billion.
Those reductions will almost certainly bring painful impacts for state agencies that could result in scaled-back services and layoffs.
Critics of the 14% cut in spending have called for state lawmakers to instead raise revenues via taxes and by ending certain tax exemptions.
Meanwhile, a letter asking Congress to release $500 billion in federal funds to help prop up state budgets in Georgia and across the U.S. was sent Monday by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia.
The General Assembly is poised to resume the 2020 legislative session in mid-June with the budget as the main focus.
State lawmakers are pushing for Congress to release $500 billion in federal funds to help prop up state budgets in Georgia and across the U.S. amid the coronavirus-prompted economic downturn.
In a letter Monday, top budget-writing lawmakers in the General Assembly formally asked the state’s congressional delegation to back the $500 billion relief package for state governments, echoing calls by a handful of governors last month for the same amount.
State agencies are already being asked to slice their budgets by 14% ahead of expected revenue shortfalls in Georgia of between $3 billion and $4 billion, as state lawmakers scramble to draft a budget for the 2021 fiscal year before a July 1 deadline.
The revenue decline has been fueled in part by drastic slowdowns in economic activity seen at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Port of Savannah and the Georgia World Congress Center, according to the letter.
Additionally, around 10% of the state’s workforce primarily in the hospitality and food-service industries has filed for unemployment benefits in recent weeks, marking an extraordinary uptick in out-of-work Georgians.
“As one of the 10 largest state economies in the nation, we are experiencing an unprecedented fiscal shock as the world stands still,” reads the letter.
It was signed by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia.
Facing such large budget cuts, state agencies will almost certainly experience painful impacts that could result in scaled-back services and layoffs.
Critics of the 14% cut in spending have called for state lawmakers to instead raise revenues via taxes and by ending certain tax exemptions.
Agency heads have been ordered to submit budget-reduction proposals by May 20, around the time lawmakers are set to resume in-person committee meetings.
The Capitol building in Atlanta looms on “crossover” eve on March 12, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
State agencies in Georgia are being asked to cut up to $3.8 billion from their budgets to absorb the economic downturn caused by coronavirus.
The deep cuts to Georgia’s budget come as tax revenues are expected to plummet after weeks of statewide business closures and stay-at-home orders prompted by the virus.
In a memo penned Friday, budget leaders in the General Assembly and Gov. Brian Kemp’s office directed state agencies to propose how they will cut their budgets by 14%. Those proposals are due May 20, around the time lawmakers are set to resume in-person committee meetings.
“While the Great Recession of 2008 was considered then to be a ‘once in a lifetime’ event, our current situation will certainly overshadow it,” the memo says. “That is why this request is being made to ALL areas of the state budget with no exceptions.”
The memo was signed by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia. The governor’s budget director, Kelly Farr, also signed the memo.
State agencies were already facing budget cuts of 6% ordered by Kemp for the upcoming 2021 fiscal year, which starts July 1. Lawmakers also have largely approved 4% cuts to the state’s revised 2020 fiscal year budget that Kemp requested.
Negotiations between lawmakers over those cuts dominated the 2020 legislative session before it was suspended in mid-March. Facing the 6% cuts, agencies managed to trim costs largely by leaving vacant staff positions unfilled, upgrading technology and scaling back work-related travel.
Some agencies, particularly those dealing with mental health services and criminal justice initiatives, raised concerns that even the 6% cuts would be tough to implement without some service changes and staff furloughs.
Now, facing coronavirus-prompted cuts of more than twice that amount, agencies will almost certainly experience more painful impacts that could result in scaled-back services and layoffs.
The upcoming cuts would also include public schools and Medicaid spending, which were excluded from the most recent round of 6% cuts ordered by the governor.
Critics of the spending cuts have called for state lawmakers to instead raise revenues via taxes and by ending certain tax exemptions.
Danny Kanso, a policy analyst for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI), called on lawmakers to look at raising the state tax on tobacco as an alternative option to hacking away agency budgets.
“State leaders should do everything in their power to avoid making devastating cuts that would be likely to disproportionately hurt public schools and higher education — and possibly further weaken Georgia’s already-stretched-thin health care system,” Kanso said Friday.
Coronavirus has sickened thousands in Georgia and killed hundreds. (Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Gov. Brian Kemp will release most Georgians from the state’s shelter-in-place order after Thursday night except for people ages 65 and older, seniors living in long-term care facilities and persons with certain chronic health issues, the governor announced Thursday afternoon.
Older persons and the chronically ill, who health officials have stressed are most at risk for harmful effects from coronavirus, must remain sheltered-in-place through June 12.
Also on Thursday, Kemp outlined a series of social-distancing restrictions that Georgia businesses will need to continue following in the coming weeks, depending on the type of business. As it stands, those restrictions are poised to be lifted on 11:59 p.m. May 13.
Strict distancing rules limiting the number of customers and requiring vigorous sanitizing measures will remain in effect through May 13 for dine-in restaurants, gyms, barbershops and many other close-quarter establishments that were allowed to reopen as of Monday.
Bars, nightclubs, swimming pools and amusement parks will have to remain closed through May 13, after which they may also reopen unless Kemp moves to extend closure orders.
Georgians with chronic health conditions that the governor’s office listed are subject to the June 12 shelter-in-place order include those with chronic lung disease, moderate to severe asthma, severe heart disease, immunocompromised conditions, class III or severe obesity, and patients with diabetes, liver disease or chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis.
For many Georgia residents and businesses, Kemp’s move Thursday looks to pare back a host of mandatory closures and restrictions on physical interactions that many health experts have credited with slowing the spread of coronavirus, but which have also prompted severely negative consequences for the state’s economy.
In a video Thursday, the governor reiterated he is basing the decision to lift most restrictions on encouraging data trends that show declining coronavirus transmission rates as well as efforts in recent weeks to ready hundreds of hospital beds for use during patient surge periods.
“The health and well-being of Georgians are my top priorities, and my decisions are based on data and advice from health officials,” Kemp said. “I will do what is necessary to protect the lives and livelihoods of our people.”
At a news conference Monday, the governor said the state largely has been following federal guidelines for deciding when to let businesses reopen, while also weighing input from local health officials and the dire financial situation facing many business owners who have been shuttered for weeks.
Hundreds of thousands of Georgians have been out of work since March with nearly 1.4 million workers and their employers having filed unemployment claims as of last week, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. The state budget is expected to be billions of dollars in the hole due to a steep drop in recent tax revenues.
On Monday, the state’s public health commissioner, Dr. Kathleen Toomey, said Georgia is on track to see a “plateauing” of positive COVID-19 cases, even though the state had not met all the federal guidelines for allowing businesses to reopen. She noted cases of reported flu-like illnesses as well as hospitalizations have been declining and that positive cases have fallen “as a percentage of total tests.”
“We will continue to closely monitor the data to ensure these encouraging patterns we are seeing continue to improve,” Toomey said in a video Monday night.
Many local health experts have shown skepticism toward relying on models published and updated daily on the state Department of Public Health’s website. They have pointed to other models and studies, some compiled by local university researchers, that indicate Georgia could see a flare-up in coronavirus outbreaks if social restrictions are lifted sooner rather than later.
One study, released this week by the University of Georgia’s Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, estimated that relaxing the social distancing measures in place since March could cause an additional 1,500 deaths from coronavirus in Georgia, plus tens of thousands more cases.
Another modeling tool, created by researchers at Georgia Tech and Harvard Medical School, predicts a second wave of COVID-19 cases and deaths could soon hit Georgia if social restrictions are loosened.
Meanwhile, Georgia Democratic leaders and lawmakers blasted Kemp on social media and in news releases Thursday afternoon. Sen. Nikema Williams, who chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia, accused the governor of “playing a dangerous game” with his decision Thursday.
“It is reckless and irresponsible for Kemp to use Georgians as the guinea pigs in a public health experiment that will go wrong,” said Williams, D-Atlanta. “Today’s decision will have consequences — for our overworked health systems, for our struggling essential workers, and for our lives.”
Coronavirus has sickened tens of thousands in Georgia and killed hundreds. (Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
With only a day left on the clock, Gov. Brian Kemp has not revealed whether or not he plans to extend Georgia’s shelter-in-place order before it expires.
The governor’s office was expected to make an announcement on the order Wednesday, but he will instead hold off until Thursday, his communications director, Candice Broce, confirmed.
Kemp is weighing whether and how to relax mandatory social restrictions in place since April 3 that have required people to remain at home except for essential errands like grocery runs and to exercise, and for most businesses to limit their operations only to levels that will keep them financially afloat.
The order has already been extended once since it was first issued on April 3. It is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
In recent days, the governor has allowed many close-quarter businesses like the dine-in areas of restaurants, gyms and barbershops to reopen following weeks of mandatory closures. Other businesses including bars, nightclubs and amusement parks must still stay closed.
Kemp has drawn fire from many health experts and local elected officials since last week over his decision to let those businesses reopen. Critics have accused him of disregarding serious health and safety implications for Georgia residents, particularly the elderly and chronically ill, by relaxing social restrictions as they are just beginning to show results.
Many local doctors and health experts worry that ending the statewide shelter-in-place could cause a spike in positive COVID-19 cases, leading to a second wave of community outbreaks – though it is impossible to predict how severe that increase might be.
“You can just predict there will be an increase in cases,” said Dr. Ashley Register, a physician in Cairo. “And I think everyone’s frightened.”
Others expect most Georgians will simply continue to keep their distance from each other in public and delay reopening their businesses for the time being, despite the financial pain.
Dr. Karen Kinsell, a physician in Fort Gaines, said many people in her small-town Southwest Georgia community have told her recently “that it’s a horrible idea and they’re not going out anyway.”
“But there is always going to be somebody that doesn’t listen,” Kinsell said Wednesday. “It only takes a few people to see some really bad things again.”
To date, Kemp has defended his decision as a voluntary relief valve aimed at giving Georgia business owners the option, not a mandate, to reopen after weeks of forced closures.
At a news conference Monday, the governor said the state largely has been following federal guidelines for deciding when to let businesses reopen, while also weighing input from local health officials as well as the dire financial situation facing many business owners who have been shuttered for weeks.
“We are looking at depression-like unemployment,” Kemp said. “It has all tumbled off a cliff like it has in every state. But we will come back, and we will come back even stronger.”
On Monday, Toomey said Georgia is on track to see a “plateauing” of positive COVID-19 cases, even though the state had not met all the federal “gating” guidelines for allowing businesses to reopen. She noted cases of reported flu-like illnesses as well as hospitalizations have been declining and that positive cases have fallen “as a percentage of total tests.”
“We will continue to closely monitor the data to ensure these encouraging patterns we are seeing continue to improve,” Toomey said in a video Monday night.
However, models now being published and updated daily on the state Department of Public Health’s website are in many ways at odds with other modeling done by local university researchers, said Dr. Rebecca Mitchell, an epidemiologist and bioinformatician who is a visiting assistant professor at Emory University.
One study, released this week by the University of Georgia’s Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, estimated that relaxing social distancing measures in place since March could cause an additional 1,500 deaths from coronavirus in Georgia, plus tens of thousands more cases.
Another modeling tool, created by researchers at Georgia Tech and Harvard Medical School, predicts a second wave of COVID-19 cases and deaths could soon hit Georgia if social restrictions are loosened.
Mitchell, who is running as a Democrat for the District 106 seat in the Georgia House, said Wednesday the severity of any future coronavirus outbreaks will depend on how much leeway Georgians will have to interact with each other.
“The more relaxed we are and the more willing people are to have face-to-face interactions with people, the stronger that new wave will be,” Mitchell said. “It’s just the size of the epidemic that we’re really talking about when we’re changing some of the social distancing requirements versus all of them.”
Coronavirus has sickened thousands of people in Georgia and killed hundreds more. (Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Vacation rentals in Georgia will be allowed to reopen Friday following weeks of coronavirus-prompted closures.
Gov. Brian Kemp gave the green light for bed-and-breakfast establishments and online bookings like Airbnb late Monday on the heels of allowing many other types of businesses to reopen in recent days, including dine-in restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and barbershops.
On Twitter Monday night, Kemp said his decision to let short-term rental businesses reopen was “based on favorable data and stakeholder input.” He said vacationers should still keep their distance from each other if they book a rental.
“We urge people to continue to follow social distancing and sanitation rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the governor wrote.
Kemp and state health officials have touted models and reporting from local hospitals that indicate a slowdown in coronavirus cases and emergency-room visits, though positive cases and deaths traced to the highly infectious virus continue to mount in Georgia.
As of noon Tuesday, roughly 24,600 people had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that sparked a global pandemic. It had killed 1,025 Georgians.
Kemp has faced criticism since last week from public health experts and local elected officials for letting close-contact businesses like restaurants and barbershops reopen.
He has framed the move as a voluntary relief valve for struggling businesses, giving them the option to reopen if they want so that Georgia might avoid prolonged economic damage caused by the closures.
The temporary ban on vacation rentals started on April 9, almost a week after the prohibitions on other popular gathering spots took effect. The rental ban applied for stays of 30 days or less but did not include hotels, camping grounds and short-term rentals that were already booked before April 9.
Kemp acknowledged the rental ban was in part a response to concerns over public gatherings at beaches, which were allowed to remain open under the broader statewide shelter-in-place order that took effect April 3.
Facing complaints that he had usurped power from coastal officials who preferred keeping the beaches closed, Kemp pledged to take action if attendance grew too high and that beaches would be routinely monitored by state troopers and game wardens.
Since April 3, 551 warnings have been issued by the Department of Natural Resources for beach gatherings across the state, said Candice Broce, the governor’s communications director. No misdemeanor or felony citations have been issued during that time, she said.
Broce said Georgians have followed social distancing rules at beaches from the start or after being warned. Also, Kemp’s prohibition on bringing items to the beach like chairs and umbrellas “likely helped with preventing non-compliance from the outset,” she said.
“Officers have worked tirelessly to ensure people understand the parameters of the executive orders, and as you can see, any non-compliance has been readily rectified following verbal warnings,” Broce said in an email Tuesday.
