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BELTON: Georgia had a good year despite horrific pandemic
State Rep. Dave Belton
For the past few years, I’ve had the luxury of starting the new year with a happy pronouncement about how great things are.
Obviously, I won’t be doing that this year.
To be fair, Georgia has had an incredible decade-long run of historic successes. Per capita state taxes in Georgia are next to the lowest in the nation. We have the second-best Bond Rating. Our public schools have never had better SAT, ACT, and K12 scores…or a better graduation rate. Our university system is one of the best in the nation; as UGA and Georgia Tech are ranked among the top-20 in public, and Emory is among the best private universities. Before COVID, we had the lowest unemployment rates in history. Even during the pandemic, the Georgia economy has fared much better than most, including the fifth best in the nation in fewest jobs lost, and fifth best in most jobs regained. We’ve recently added 16,000 jobs in the past few months, and over $6 billion in new investments, half of which is outside Atlanta. And for the eighth year in a row we’ve been named the Best State in the Nation to Do Business in. Georgia is poised much better than most to rebound out of this tragic pandemic.