State of Georgia Archives: on Jobs
Andrew Hunt:
Job Powerhouse plan instead of crony capitalism
Currently only large businesses and the well-connected receive special relief, incentives, and government contracts. There are so many neighborhoods, small towns and cities around Georgia full of people who do not receive any benefits. The majority of
companies and people pay for this crony capitalism. With the Job Powerhouse plan we establish a level playing field with fairness and freedom of operation. Companies and citizens create the jobs that drive our economy. A truly free enterprise system
without penalties on employers will grow jobs rapidly.There should be no special awards to only a few companies. Deal helped create a fund with which he can direct special benefits to a small number of selected companies. This is the ultimate example
of crony capitalism. There needs to be as few regulations as possible so that we can have a true free enterprise system. Let the open market place, not the government, decide on the winners and losers. There will be so many more winners and more jobs.
Source: 2014 Georgia gubernatorial campaign website, AndrewHunt.us
Aug 31, 2014
Andrew Hunt:
Reduce payroll tax when paying over $11/hour
Incentivize Over $11/hour Pay: Our objective is to incentivize employers to create jobs that provide competitive pay for all Georgians.
To bring a higher base pay to Georgians, the employment penalty tax reimbursement of federal payroll taxes will be for jobs paying $11/hour or more, and this will be indexed to inflation.
Additionally, maintaining low unemployment will drive up pay for all, as employers will compete to get the staff they need. A strong free market economy yields great jobs!
Thus, elimination of employment penalty taxes will bring higher pay and ensure fewer jobs with lower pay. When the People earn more, there is a stronger economy -which in turn helps all businesses.
Source: 2014 Georgia gubernatorial campaign website, AndrewHunt.us
Aug 31, 2014
Brian Kemp:
4-Point Plan to put hardworking Georgians to work
I'm a conservative businessman with a 4-Point Plan to put hardworking Georgians first. I'm also the proud father of 3 teenage girls. Here's the thing: If you want to date one of my daughters, you better have respect for women & a
healthy appreciation for the 2nd Amendment. [Twitter posting links to TV campaign ad outlining 4-point plan and emphasizing respect for the Second Amendment]
Source: Twitter posting on 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race
May 2, 2018
Casey Cagle:
Create 500,000 jobs in first term, to beat Deal's 319,000
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle launched his campaign for governor with a pledge to add 500,000 jobs in his first four years in office, slash $100 million in taxes in his opening months and a promise to "declare war on high school dropout rates in Georgia."
Cagle said he would quickly appoint an economic development liaison to work with businesses to streamline permitting, and he said he'd hit the road to recruit companies around the nation and the globe with an emphasis on targeting high-tech firms.
"We've been successful in being the Hollywood of the South," he said, "but now we will be the Silicon Valley of the South."
His 500,000 job creation goal is lofty:
Deal put economic development at the center of his campaign, and he said he created more than 319,000 private-sector jobs in his first term.
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 2018 Georgia governor race
Apr 29, 2017
David Perdue:
Oppose increase in the federal minimum wage
At an hour-long Senate debate, Nunn said about David Perdue, "He would be the only senator who would have built his career around outsourcing jobs," Nunn said.Perdue has said his experience with outsourcing wasn't about moving job overseas but
obtaining products and services for companies.
At one point, Nunn asked whether Perdue supports an increase in the federal minimum wage and Perdue responded that he did not. "As I have said, if you increase the minimum wage, you will kill jobs
in this country," Perdue said. "This president wants bigger government, higher taxes, more regulation. This is the plan my opponent supports."
Immigration and agriculture were also hot topics for the crowd.
Perdue said he wanted to make it easier for farmers to obtain work visas and accused Nunn of not listing agriculture as a top priority in a campaign memo--something she dismissed as untrue.
Source: 2014 Georgia Senate debate coverage by NBC-11-Alive
Oct 7, 2014
David Perdue:
2005: I spent my career outsourcing; 2014: I'm proud of that
The GOP nominee is facing heat over revelations that he said he had "spent most of my career" focused on outsourcing, and didn't help himself by responding that he was "proud" of that record. [Democratic PACs are planning] millions of dollars in ads
hitting Perdue for the outsourcing comments.The controversy stems from a 2005 legal deposition about Pillowtex, a North Carolina textile company, where he was CEO in 2003. "Yeah, I spent most of my career doing that," the he said when asked to
describe his "experience with outsourcing." Perdue discussed his goal at Pillowtex of moving production overseas to try to save the company.
His initial response [in 2014] to the revelations didn't help put out the fire. "Defend it?
I'm proud of it," he said when asked about his "career outsourcing."
"This is a part of American business. Outsourcing is the procurement of products and services to help your business run. People do that all day," he continued.
Source: The Hill PacWatch on 2014 Georgia Senate debate
Oct 9, 2014
David Perdue:
Co-sponsored National Right-to-Work Act
Q: Support "right to work" laws, banning unions from mandating dues for workers they represent?
Perdue: Yes. Co-sponsored National Right-to-Work Act.
Ossoff: No position found. Has been endorsed by United Auto Workers.
Source: CampusElect on 2020 Georgia Senate race
Nov 3, 2020
David Perdue:
Raising minimum wage kills jobs
Q: Raise federal hourly minimum wage above current $7.25?Perdue: No recent position. In 2014 said if "increase the minimum wage, you will kill jobs."
Ossoff: Yes. "Fight to make sure the minimum wage is a livable wage."
Source: CampusElect on 2020 Georgia Senate race
Nov 3, 2020
Doug Collins:
Co-sponsored National Right-to-Work Act
Q: Support "right to work" laws, barring unions from mandating dues?Doug Collins: Yes. Co-sponsored National Right-to-Work Act, establishing right to work on a national basis.
Kelly Loeffler: Yes. Co-sponsored National
Right-to-Work Act, establishing right to work on a national basis.
Raphael Warnock: No. Supports "pay equity" with "honest wages, protected retirement, and fair overtime compensation." Endorsed by Georgia AFL-CIO.
Source: CampusElect on 2019-20 Georgia 2-year Senate race
Nov 3, 2020
Doug Collins:
Voted against raising the minimum wage to $15
Q: Raise federal hourly minimum wage above current $7.25?Doug Collins: Unclear. Voted against raising the minimum wage to $15 over a seven-year period.
Kelly Loeffler: No position found.
Raphael Warnock: Yes. $7.25 an hour "is not a living wage." Will "fight to raise the minimum to a livable wage."
Source: CampusElect on 2019-20 Georgia 2-year Senate race
Nov 3, 2020
Jason Carter:
Employers need skilled workers: more technical schools
Q: What is your plan to increase jobs and grow the economy in Georgia?A: The most important thing we can do in Georgia with respect to having a healthy economy is to ensure that our education system is viable and is educating people to have the skills
they need. The biggest anchor we have on economic growth, right now, is our education system. The Governor's policies with respect to technical schools, higher education, K through 12, have all undermined our ability to grow toward the future.
The other piece that is important to me is technical schools. We have lost 45,000 students in our technical schools because of the Governor's policies. That is an economic disaster waiting to happen. We've got employers that need folks
with skills and we've got people who want to move up in the world and need those skills and they are not able to go to technical schools, and that's not good for anybody.
Source: Atlanta Progressive News Q&A: 2014 Georgia Governor's race
Feb 13, 2014
Jon Ossoff:
Minimum wage should be a living wage
- Jon will go to work to ensure that health insurance premiums don't cripple businesses or force them to lay off employees.
- Jon will defend equal pay for equal work and fight any effort to allow wage discrimination against women or minorities.
- Jon believes the minimum wage should be a living wage. He will support an increase in the federal minimum wage indexed to cost of living and implemented at a pace that allows employers to adapt their business plans.
Source: 2017 Georgia House campaign website, ElectJon.com
Apr 21, 2017
Jon Ossoff:
Minimum wage should be livable wage
Q: Raise federal hourly minimum wage above current $7.25?Ossoff: Yes. "Fight to make sure the minimum wage is a livable wage."
Perdue: No recent position. In 2014 said if "increase the minimum wage, you will kill jobs."
Source: CampusElect on 2020 Georgia Senate race
Nov 3, 2020
Kelly Loeffler:
Co-sponsored National Right-to-Work Act
Q: Support "right to work" laws, barring unions from mandating dues?Kelly Loeffler: Yes. Co-sponsored National Right-to-Work Act, establishing right to work on a national basis.
Raphael Warnock: No. Supports "pay equity" with "honest wages, protected retirement, and fair overtime compensation." Endorsed by Georgia AFL-CIO.
Source: CampusElect on 2019-20 Georgia 2-year Senate race
Nov 3, 2020
Michelle Nunn:
Increase the minimum wage, help lower the unemployment rate
Traveling across the state, meeting with hard-working citizens, it's so clear to me that our leaders in Washington could learn a thing or two from Georgians' work ethic.The families I meet are putting in the hours, trying to provide for their
families, and while they are focused on the home front, they need leaders in Washington who are looking out for them--not special interests. They need leaders who are good listeners and in touch with their concerns.
In my work as the
CEO of Points of Light, the largest non-profit in the world dedicated to volunteer service, I found that collaboration was critical to getting things done. That's a lesson I will put to use in the U.S. Senate to increase the minimum wage, and help lower
the unemployment rate.
In contrast, David Perdue's experience includes outsourcing American jobs to other countries and walking away with $1.7 million shortly before another company went bankrupt, costing 7,500 workers their jobs.
Source: Nunn campaign email AdWatch for 2014 Georgia Senate debate
Sep 1, 2014
Nathan Deal:
Employment is primary goal of education: more HOPE Grants
Since employment is a primary goal of education, I want to commend the Chancellor of our University System and the Commissioner of our Technical College System for evaluating and refocusing their programs of study to give priority to those educational
paths that have a proven record of employability. It is a tragedy when a young person works hard, accumulates debt for student loans and then graduates with a diploma in a field where there are no jobs.
My budget proposes to focus more funds within our HOPE Grant Program toward occupations where we know jobs are available & shortages actually exist. Currently, there are several thousand jobs available for individuals with a commercial driver's license.
There are similar shortages in the areas of nursing and early childhood education. In order to fill these vacancies we suggest directing additional funds within our Technical College HOPE Grants.
Source: 2013 State of the State address to Georgia Legislature
Jan 17, 2013
Nathan Deal:
Economists don't pay attention to unemployment rates
When pressed by [Democratic opponent Jason] Carter about the state's stubborn unemployment rates--pegged at 7.9 percent for September--the governor called it an "outlier" statistic. "Unemployment rates are only good for political advertising,"
Deal said. "Economists don't pay any attention to them."The bitter back-and-forth played out against months of campaign rhetoric focusing on education and the economy, the two dominant themes of this election.
Deal touts more than 300,000 jobs created on his watch and an education budget this year that includes more than $300 million in new K-12 money.
Carter said the state is drowning in wasted potential that he can unlock with a pledge to boost classroom funding.
Source: Atlanta Journal-Const. on 2014 Georgia Gubernatorial debate
Oct 19, 2014
Nathan Deal:
Full funding for technical education for jobs
We created a program, known as the HOPE Career Grant, which covers 100 percent of tuition for technical school students who enroll in one of Georgia's strategic industry, high-demand fields. 99.2% [of HOPE enrollees] find employment upon completion of
their training and studies. I was proud to add five new categories to that incredibly successful program. We now have 17 specific fields that allow our employers to answer "yes" when I ask them whether they can find qualified candidates for open jobs.
Source: 2018 Georgia State of the State address
Jan 11, 2018
Raphael Warnock:
$7.25 an hour "is not a living wage"
Q: Raise federal hourly minimum wage above current $7.25?Raphael Warnock: Yes. $7.25 an hour "is not a living wage."
Will "fight to raise the minimum to a livable wage."
Kelly Loeffler: No position found.
Source: CampusElect on 2019-20 Georgia 2-year Senate race
Nov 3, 2020
Raphael Warnock:
Supports pay equity with honest wages, fair overtime
Q: Support "right to work" laws, barring unions from mandating dues?Raphael Warnock: No. Supports "pay equity" with "honest wages, protected retirement, and fair overtime compensation." Endorsed by Georgia AFL-CIO.
Kelly Loeffler: Yes. Co-sponsored National Right-to-Work Act, establishing right to work on a national basis.
Source: CampusElect on 2019-20 Georgia 2-year Senate race
Nov 3, 2020
Stacey Abrams:
For living wage and right to form unions
As Governor, Stacey will promote policies to ensure pay equity and expand paid sick leave. Georgia should require a living wage in every county. Furthermore, the right to form a union and collectively bargain for
fair wages and employment conditions is fundamental to workplace fairness. As Minority Leader, Stacey never wavered in her opposition to legislation that would erode the rights of workers to bargain for fair pay and safe workplace conditions.
Source: 2018 Georgia Governor website StaceyAbrams.com
Aug 17, 2017
Stacey Abrams:
For living wage and right to form unions
As Governor, Stacey will promote policies to ensure pay equity and expand paid sick leave. Georgia should require a living wage in every county. Furthermore, the right to form a union and collectively bargain for
fair wages and employment conditions is fundamental to workplace fairness. As Minority Leader, Stacey never wavered in her opposition to legislation that would erode the rights of workers to bargain for fair pay and safe workplace conditions.
Source: 2018 Georgia Gubernatorial website StaceyAbrams.com
Sep 1, 2017
Ted Terry:
Raised city minimum wages to $15 an hour
Georgia Mayor Ted Terry has a hell of a track record. He has doubled the size of the small town just outside of Atlanta, made Election Day a holiday,
raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour, helped to democratize the city council with millenials and minorities, and decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Source: Under the Radar Mag on 2020 Georgia Senate race
Dec 19, 2019
Teresa Tomlinson:
Support right to organize & protect benefits
I will support legislation, such as the Protect the Right to Organize Act, which among other protections will enhance the worker's ability to join a union and collectively bargain, will penalize employers who unlawfully interfere with or seek to stop
the right to organize, ensure "fair share" fees so all workers pay some fraction of the value the Union returns to them, and will stop the misidentification of workers as "independent contractors" or "management" in order to deny them benefits or pay.
Source: 2020 Georgia Senate campaign website, TeresaTomlinson.com
Jan 12, 2020
Teresa Tomlinson:
Raise minimum wage to $15 with cost of living adjustments
I will support raising the minimum wage to a living wage of $15 an hour with an automatic Cost of Living Adjustment so that 1) we recognize the base sustainable wage for our working families; 2) we understand that decent wages enhance the work force,
the employer, and the economy; and 3) we ensure our country's minimum wage never again falls beneath the poverty level for full-time employees.
Source: 2020 Georgia Senate campaign website, TeresaTomlinson.com
Jan 12, 2020
Vernon Jones:
Include gender identity in federal anti-discrimination laws
Jones supports the following principles regarding Employment Issues:- Increase funding for national job-training programs that retrain displaced workers or teach skills needed in today's job market.
- Reduce government regulation of the
private sector.
- Encourage employers to offer child care services, flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies.
- Include gender identity in federal anti-discrimination laws.
Source: Georgia Congressional Election 2008 Political Courage Test
Jul 2, 2008
Vernon Jones:
Opportunity for all rather than increase the minimum wage
We need leaders who will support economic opportunity for all Americans, and the loudest voices in today's Democratic Party are focused on an incremental increase to the
minimum wage instead of promoting policies that give all Americans the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential.
Source: Jones in Fox News: on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Jan 8, 2021
Stacey Abrams:
Constitutional amendment to bring casinos & online betting
If reelected, [GOP opponent Gov. Brian] Kemp plans to use nearly $1 billion from the state's budget surplus to issue $250 for single filers, $375 for a single filer who is head of household and $500 for a married couple filing jointly in Georgia.
Kemp has touted his leadership landing Georgia a top state for business for eight years and a record low unemployment rate of 2.8% as of July.
Part of Abrams' economic plan includes leading efforts for a constitutional amendment to bring casinos to Georgia and legislation allowing online sports betting, with some proceeds possibly used to fund education initiatives.
Much of her plan focuses on increasing wages, small businesses and rural workforce.
In 2019, Kemp launched Georgia's Rural Strike Team to help market and train rural communities seeking businesses.
Source: The Hill on 2022 Georgia Gubernatorial race
Oct 8, 2022
Page last updated: Feb 18, 2023