Perdue Calls Expanded Unemployment Relief “A Hindrance” As Benefits Set to Expire for Georgians

“More than one in eight workers” in Georgia remain unemployed, but Perdue won’t commit to relief for vulnerable Georgians

ATLANTA — In an interview yesterday, Senator David Perdue again refused to commit to providing needed relief to struggling Georgians by extending critical expanded unemployment insurance benefits, calling the expanded program “a hindrance.” 

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Sen. Perdue: “We had a hindrance to people going back to work, and that was a premium on the unemployment. That expires, and I believe a lot of people will then go, begin going in and absorbing those jobs that have been created.”

This isn’t the first time Perdue’s turned his back on working families in Georgia. He already claimed he “personally opposed” critical direct economic relief for Georgians — even as “more than one in eight workers” in Georgia remain unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the state ranks last in economic recovery.

But when it comes to his big corporate backers, Perdue is always ready to provide them with a bailout. Perdue already assisted Republican efforts to jam through an aid bill that included a multi-billion dollar slush fund for big corporations with little accountability or independent oversight. And he later wrote off banks making “more than $10 billion in fees” off a small business relief fund as “the cost of doing business.”

“Clearly, Senator David Perdue has no problem providing relief during the coronavirus crisis — as long as you’re a big corporation or a bank,” said Alex Floyd, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “But for Perdue, expanded relief for unemployed Georgians during this emergency is ‘a hindrance’ even as our state economy struggles to recover.”

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