Metro expert weighs in on what to expect as lawmakers battle it out over next round of stimulus

ATLANTA — As the pandemic continues, lawmakers promise another round of stimulus is coming but there are changes that Republicans want this time that Democrats disagree with.

Currently, it has brought talks over the stimulus to a stalemate. Channel 2 anchor Jovita Moore spoke with CCIM Institute’s chief economist K.C. Conway about what to expect in the coming days.

“What’s happening is real good politics in the middle of an election year, right? Unfortunately, we don’t we don’t have a lot of time here. Real benefits and impact issues take effect the end of this week. So, there’s not a lot of time to play around and wait for this to play out for weeks and weeks,” Conway said.

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“Really, what’s at the heart of the issue is whether the federal government, Republicans, are going to transfer more of the fiscal burden to the state level. So, by changing these numbers, whether it’s going from $600 to $200 a week on unemployment, or how they play games, or you know, renegotiate what’s independent, it really has dire consequences for the states like Georgia.

“We have to balance our budget, the federal government doesn’t,” he continued. “And so, we have to figure out where do we cut. We spend $10 billion on education, on roads and bridges. We’ve already had to cut 11% which is almost the equivalent of all that we spend on roads. It really is a transfer back to us. And it really puts a bigger burden on us and Georgia.”

“People really need that money,” Moore said. “I mean, so many people are depending on it and waiting on it as they don’t have jobs right now.”

“Yeah, and I think, you know, this argument that will 60% or 70% of the people were working fine, and people are making more money while they’re not working and staying at home. You know, I really don’t buy it,” Conway said. “I look around my neighborhood and whatnot. And I think that argument rings hollow. People want to work and they’re trying to work and there’s medical benefits and everything else so that $600 a week doesn’t really make people completely whole. They’d rather be back at work. And if they don’t, the figure I go back to is, we have 23% of American households who can’t pay their rent or mortgage right now—one in four. So, if you don’t think it matters when one in four can’t pay the rent and mortgage, it gets a lot worse if we don’t provide this support.”

Will Congress’ recess affect second stimulus check? Will Congress’ recess affect second stimulus check? (NCD)

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