As Georgia Prepares for “Billions in Spending Cuts” from Coronavirus, Will Perdue and Loeffler Stand Up to McConnell’s “Bankruptcy” Stance?

McConnell said that states should have “an option” to “use the bankruptcy route” instead of receiving additional federal aid even as Georgia faces a massive budget crisis

ATLANTA — Today, a newly revealed memo told Georgia state agencies to “plan on cutting more than $3.5 billion from their budgets” as a result of the coronavirus outbreak — yet still no word from Senators David Perdue or Kelly Loeffler about whether they agree with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s position that states should have “an option” to just “use the bankruptcy route” instead of getting additional federal relief.

Perdue has already proclaimed that “we don’t want to bail out” states, and yesterday even joined a conference call hosted by his Koch network backers that called for rejecting “handouts” for state governments. Senator Kelly Loeffler, meanwhile, has already pledged to stand behind McConnell and Republican leadership “100%,” even if McConnell still struggles to stand behind her after her stock trading scandal.

Both Perdue and Loeffler already supported Republican efforts to block $150 billion for state and local governments from the last coronavirus relief bill — even as Georgia was already facing “the worst fiscal crisis…since the Great Recession” before this outbreak. Now, with 200,000 Georgia state workers on the line and essential services already overburdened by the coronavirus pandemic, Perdue and Loeffler still can’t stand up for Georgians over McConnell. 

“Georgia is facing a dire budget crisis, but Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler would rather score points with Washington Republicans than work for desperately needed federal relief,” said Alex Floyd, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “At a time when Georgians are struggling to manage both a cratering economy and a public health crisis, it’s shameful that Perdue and Loeffler would refuse to stand up to Mitch McConnell and his ‘bankruptcy’ stance over Georgia workers.”

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