Ga., Congressional Members Promote Jobs, Infrastructure Plans To State Business Leaders

Georgia Recorder

August 9, 2022

MACON – Members of Georgia’s congressional delegation on Tuesday called for a more united front to support the economy amid inflation and bitter political tensions playing out in Washington D.C.

At the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s annual congressional luncheon, Republican and Democratic legislators discussed the advantages and challenges behind investing in the state’s infrastructure and dealing with a workforce shortage.

Democratic lawmakers used their moment in the spotlight to hail legislation they say will shape the state for decades to come, as the Democrats’ narrow advantage in the House and Senate has allowed them to edge through their priorities during President Joe Biden’s tenure.

Among those measures is a bipartisan economic and infrastructure plan aimed at creating jobs, expanding transit, and revitalizing roads and highways – a bill that Georgia’s Republican members voted against.

The House is also expected to vote by the end of the week on the Inflation Reduction Act, a sweeping climate, health and tax package that moved through the Senate on Sunday. The bill received staunch opposition from GOP senators who argue it won’t curb rising prices at the pump and in the grocery store.

Rep. Buddy Carter, a Pooler Republican, said that winning over the talent for future jobs is connected to the investments made with infrastructure. Carter voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill in November.

The state’s harbors are among the critical infrastructure that continue needing support, he said.

Included in the infrastructure bill is funding to relieve the backlog in shipping channels at the Port of Savannah.

“Georgia’s ports serve as an economic engine not only for our state, but also for the broader southeast,” Carter said during the event held in Macon.

According to polling analyst Frank Luntz, the keynote speaker at the chamber event, the effect of the nasty political bickering is backed up by the overwhelming distrust the vast majority of Americans have for the government and a broken Democracy.

Luntz noted that elected officials still have the ability to shift that narrative by standing up against the political games that have threatened progress and providing better messaging to the public about how certain bills will improve their lives and communities.

Republican Rep. Austin Scott decried the threats to democracy but offered some hope that political leaders could come together for the sake of the economy.

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