State Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) knows that when Georgia lawmakers return to the Capitol on June 15 to complete the legislative session, most of the focus will be on the FY 21 budget. But he also believes that Georgia must, and will, find ways to “reignite the economy.”
“One of the best ways to get ourselves out of this is to grow jobs,” said Beach. “We have to continue to create an environment in Georgia that is job friendly and we have to get people back to work. We have to respect COVID but we can’t fear it. The government doesn’t create jobs, the private sector does. Government creates the environment and we have to let everyone know that Georgia is open for business.”
Beach, while taking part in a webinar with the Council for Quality Growth, said he believes Georgia is in a good position to recover quickly after the shutdown due to the pandemic.
“I applaud Governor (Brian) Kemp on the course of action he took. He came out a leader with the decisions he made. Georgia is also fortunate that former Governor Nathan Deal had built a rainy-day fund to help us get through times like these. With Governor Kemp’s leadership, and his attitude that Georgia is open for business, I am certain that Georgia has the tools in the toolbox to bounce back from this.”
While legislators’ main task will be passing the state budget, Beach believes that lawmakers will take up some key bills. Before the session was recessed because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the House had approved and sent 65 bills to the Senate for consideration. Senators had sent 40 bills to the House.
“Leadership has been meeting to prioritize these bills as we head back into session,” said Beach. “We have 11 days left in session, and the budget will take up the majority of the time, but I believe some bills will get looked at.”
As Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, Beach has his eyes on infrastructure and state transportation projects. However, with traffic volumes and vehicle miles travelled both down because of the shutdown, these projects will definitely be impacted. Both traffic volume and vehicle miles travelled bottomed out the week of April 5-12, Beach said, and are still low. Traffic volume was down 50 percent in Georgia that week (and is now down 20-25 percent) and vehicle miles traveled was down 65 percent that week (currently 35 percent down).
This will result in a shift of many projects from FY21 to FY 22, Beach said.
As co-chair of the Georgia Commission on Freight & Logistics, Beach is hoping the extension of this committee’s work will be considered a priority bill. “This is really a two-year process, and we need time to continue what we have started.”
Beach said lawmakers will need to look at innovative ways to drive the economy. He has introduced the “Georgia Economic Rebound Act”, which is modeled on Georgia’s Opportunity Zones. Beach said his proposed legislation would make the entire state an “Opportunity Zone” for two years, geared towards restaurant and retail businesses within Georgia. Under the legislation, the Opportunity Zone would allow businesses to claim a $3,500 tax credit for every new hire.
