Peach Tree Times

In spite of the pandemic, Georgia has enjoyed a robust fiscal year and state leaders believe that their policies played a vital role.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Georgia announced a $3.2 billion increase in the amount of state taxes collected in the past fiscal year, with a revenue that grew at 13.5% compared to 2020.

Gov. Brian Kemp said that the state had a strong financial foundation due to his work with the General Assembly.

“The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the importance of states living within their means, and Georgia did so without widespread layoffs, tax hikes, furloughs or drastic cuts to essential services,” he said. “[Our focus was] to budget conservatively and protect both lives and livelihoods throughout a global pandemic.”

Economic markers, especially those pertaining to jobs and unemployment, have been steadily improving in Georgia due to Kemp's decision to opt out of extra federal unemployment insurance benefits and reinstating the work-search requirement for unemployment collection.

Kemp thanked the Georgia Assembly for its work, pointing especially to the "conservative" state budget that was passed. Georgia was able to offset the shortages caused by the pandemic with this past year's huge tax-revenue increase.

Kemp added that the strong economy is the result of his decision to reopen the state’s economy, which had been on a downward trend during stay-at-home orders that other states continued to employ after his decision.

“State leaders worked together to fund our priorities of education, health care and public safety – all while cutting taxes,” the governor said. 

Georgia's unemployment rate is down to 4%, well below the national average and very close to pre-COVID levels.