Lawmakers in Georgia are asking Congress to release $500 billion in Federal funds to help out with the budget shortfall in states like Georgia that have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter Monday, the Georgia General Assembly asked the state’s congressional delegation to back the Federal relief package for states. State agencies in Georgia are facing a 14% budget cut that has been ordered to make up for revenue shortfalls of somewhere between $3 billion and $4 billion.
On top of the declining revenues, the state has been faced with paying out millions of dollars in unemployment claims as Georgia see unemployment like it hasn’t seen since the Great Depression in the 1930’s.
Georgia has one of the top-ten largest economies in the nation. Part of that has to do with the regional hubs like the Port of Savannah and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Some critics of the budget cuts want the state to increase revenue by doing away with certain tax exemptions.
The General Assembly is poised to resume the 2020 legislative session in mid-June with the budget as the main focus.
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