Georgia is continuing to do well.

With more people working in Georgia than ever before, the lowest gas prices in the country, and being ranked the number one state to do business in for eight years in a row, we are the envy of the country.

November 10, 2022

Our unemployment is the lowest in history. Our rainyday fund balance is at a record high. We have implemented only the second in history and the largest income tax rate cut Georgia has seen. It will start phasing in, and our 8th overall lowest tax rate in the country will start dropping down. I don’t, however, see us replacing the number one state of Alaska unless we strike oil. Our fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, was a record for new investment in Georgia at $11 billion. The fiscal year for this year ending June 30, 2022, shattered that record at $21 billion. Over 70% of the new investments in both years are outside the 10-county metro area, strengthening all of Georgia. Our Savannah port (the second busiest on the east coast), of which Northwest Georgia is the largest user in the state, had another record quarter. Many businesses are switching to Georgia because of the backlogs at other ports. We are using innovative measures to ensure we do not have a backlog from the increased business.

In education, our teachers, with the recent raises, now have the highest average pay in the Southeast, from Texas to Virginia. In addition, two of our Universities, UGA and Georgia Tech, are ranked in the country’s top 20 public universities. Forty states don’t have any universities in the top 20 – we have two!

Because of our status and for other reasons, we are part of a global economy. While Georgia is doing well, there are troubling signs on the horizon. China is in trouble due to collapsed real estate prices, and Russia is obviously in trouble. At home, we had the Federal Reserve Chairman use the word pain in his short statement twice, which sent the stock market tumbling. The incredible debt piled up in a bipartisan manner in Washington fuels inflation we have not seen since the Jimmy Carter days of the ’70s. The current administration has added $4.8 trillion to the national debt, including $1.1 trillion in executive action. While this is less than the $7.5 trillion in the previous administration ($4 trillion excluding bipartisan covid relief), the current administration is on track to exceed the previous administration by the end of the term. Two reckless spending administrations don’t cancel each other out. The recent debt will add $700 billion in interest costs to be paid by the taxpayers, and interest is already the fastest growing part of the US budget.

While I don’t believe I have ever talked about global issues in this column before, it is on my mind because it will be difficult for Georgia to escape these headwinds next year. Unfortunately, the national and international problems will impact Georgia, particularly in 2023 and 2024. Being Finance Chair of the Georgia Senate for the last six years and representing this area has been an incredible honor and excitement at all the good that has happened. I and others will do everything we can to continue to make Georgia the envy of the nation.