[May 11, 2020] | Each day I get a report on what is going on in Georgia about the status of testing, hospital occupancy rates, etc., in Georgia. The data is looking a lot better, and you can see that reflected in the actions of our friends and neighbors. They are thinking so, too. I saw a lot more folks on the road when going to see my daughter and granddaughter for the first time since early March. I did see a lot of masks and social distancing over the weekend, too. I have liked the mask Marcia has made for me; ours are color coded so we can tell them apart.
My aide at the Capitol, Lisa Fountain, and I have continued to help a lot of folks trying to get their Unemployment right, overpayments of stimulus $, rules on certain business openings, advocating for certain business openings and expansion, and worries by some that we are moving too fast. It has been very rewarding to hear or see the words, ?We got it!? in an email, when we have had success helping them with their question answered or their just-in-time monies.
We have been thinking about the budget for weeks, as we know our income is down. Just like many of you, our income has changed and we have to change our state?s spending. We met last week via zoom meeting to learn how much from the State Economist and Governor?s Financial Director. That meeting is available if you are interested; let me know.
I sit beside this fella on the House floor, and his comment kinda says it all. ?It?s a different world than it was three or four months ago,? said State Rep. Terry England, (R-Auburn), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. ?Nothing?s going to be easy.?
Two weeks ago, department heads were asked to give us plans for 14% state agency spending cuts for the 2021 budget.
During last week?s zoom meeting, we got the first look at just how much Georgia?s economy is reeling. We found out the dismal news that state tax revenues fell by more than $1 billion last month compared to April of last year.
With those numbers actually reflecting taxes collected in March, when the pandemic was just starting to affect Georgia, we know the worst news is yet to come. We all know April was pretty bad for the economy. The April report will be a doozy.
While some of the spending reductions will come through such obvious steps as freezing vacant positions and furloughing employees, the department heads will have to get creative to achieve the deep cuts necessary to fill the huge shortfall.
We will be meeting with them a lot to make sure the cuts they are proposing align with the policy we are trying to accomplish. Sometimes the easy cuts are not the ones we want to do, and cutting an older noneffective program is hard for some department heads to do.
We do know there are some federal dollars coming, and we have the rainy-day fund to fill in the 2020 budget shortfall. As Chairman England said, ?The 2021 budget will not be easy.?
While we get ready to meet again in June to finish our session, there are meetings and calls and information requests going back and forth every day. You are welcome as a few have done already, to contact me on ideas of what?s important and what is not. I will keep you up to date as quickly as I can as we move through this.
Please don?t hesitate to call on us if you think we can help you. Call here at the house, 770-893-2039, or Lisa at the Capitol at 404-656-7153, or email me at rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov, or use the ?Ask Rick? link at rickjasperse.org.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you as your State Representative.