Sen. Perdue and the Senate GOP have given up on a potential new stimulus package while Georgia families are hurting
Unemployment benefits have run dry, eviction moratoriums have expired, and a promised next round of stimulus checks are nowhere to be found
Local and state governments in Georgia face huge budget cuts without aid from the federal government
Atlanta, Ga. — Today, Senator David Perdue (R-Ga.) let the U.S. Senate head home from Washington D.C. for a month-long vacation, leaving Georgia families, small businesses, and local governments without badly-needed relief in the midst of the fastest economic contraction in modern American history.
In recent weeks, as Perdue and the Senate GOP dragged their feet on passing a new stimulus package, extended unemployment insurance benefits ran out, eviction protections expired, promised second stimulus checks were nowhere to be found, and support for small businesses ended.
Things in Georgia are dire.
Last week, the AJC reported that eviction hearings have “quietly” started to resume across Atlanta with 10,000 cases on the docket, while WABE reported last month that without relief, “COVID-19 will leave more than a half-million more Georgians in a state of food insecurity.”
Georgia Public Broadcasting reported that the state of Georgia asked for a $1.1 billion loan from the federal government to help the state pay unemployment benefits. And Georgia’s GOP Speaker of the House begged Perdue last week to step up and help the state access a “$500 billion aid package” to avoid layoffs across the board, but Perdue has said he opposes federal relief for state and local governments.
Throughout the negotiations, Perdue never stood up for Georgia’s families, and now he’s heading home, leaving us empty handed.
Perdue fought against and continues to oppose a single $1,200 relief check and wants to cut extended unemployment insurance, calling it a “hindrance” and peddling a debunked claim that it is “disincentivizing” work, despite a Yale study that found “no evidence that the $600 weekly jobless benefits Congress authorized in March reduced employment.”
Yet while opposing aid for Georgia families, small businesses, and local governments, Perdue had no trouble sending billions overnight to his corporate donors in March.
“Senator Perdue continues to fail Georgians who are in desperate need of help. His inaction is no surprise coming from the man who publicly downplayed the threat of the virus while privately trading stocks in manufacturers of medical PPE and coronavirus vaccines to line his pockets. He’s only looking out for himself and his donors, and his failure to help Georgia families in need — through no fault of their own — is inexcusable,” said Jake Best, Ossoff’s press secretary.
“While Georgia families are hurting, Perdue opposes stimulus relief checks for working Americans and extended unemployment insurance to help our neighbors put food on the table and pay the rent. And while Georgia Republican state lawmakers beg for federal relief, Perdue is nowhere to be found. It’s clear he’ll only answer calls from his donors and the corporate special interests that bankroll his campaigns. Senator Perdue has failed Georgia, he deserves to lose in November, and Georgians will make sure he does.”
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