Kemp to Distribute Aid to Low Income Georgians Blog
According to an August 15 press release, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp dedicated more than $1 billion for Department of Human Services to provide cash assistance to Medicaid, PeachCare for Kids®, SNAP, and/or TANF recipients. The cash assistance provides up to $350 for active enrollees in one of the government programs. The press release states, “This assistance will help some of Georgia's most vulnerable citizens cope with the continued negative economic impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency and 40-year-high inflation caused by disastrous policies that were implemented by the Biden administration.” Eligibility is for those enrolled as of July 31, 2022. The press release goes on to describe how the recipients will receive those funds. The last line of the press release acknowledges that funds for this award derive from the State Fiscal Recovery Fund which was part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
Georgia
Public Broadcasting, gpb.org, objectively headlined on August 16 that Kemp will
hand out up to $1.2B in cash to poorer Georgians. The article goes on to tie in
this distribution to other recent promises made by the Governor to distribute a
$2 billion state surplus between both property tax rebates and income tax
rebates if he is reelected in November. The article points out that this
distribution to needier Georgians is the voter base to which Kemp’s challenger,
Stacy Abrams, has been appealing.
On the other side of the coin, even the Washington Examiner,
a right-leaning publication, headlined “Critics slam $350 cash
payments to Georgia welfare recipients engineered by Gov. Kemp.” The article
points out that the Governor has criticized federal relief programs while
taking advantage of them. Stacy Abrams and other Democrats have accused Kemp of trying to win political points instead of
caring about the lives of everyday Georgians.
https://www.gpb.org/news/2022/08/16/kemp-will-hand-out-12b-in-cash-poorer-georgians
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI actually work for a non-partisan, non-profit canvassing company that has been campaigning to call Governor Kemp to demand he expand Medicaid under the American Rescue Plan. So far at least 38 states and Washington D.C. have decided to take advantage of this fund, as it offers to cover 90% of all the states Medicaid expenses. The refusal to do so from the handful of Republic governors seems to be entirely politically motivated, causing hurting Georgians to be caught in the middle. I would urge anyone to look into this topic more, as I believe the political efficiency will dictate what is actually done for us in the end. Great post!
Hello, this is an interesting article. In addition to the rescue plan, Georgia has been fiscally responsible for the last couple of decades and has maxed out our rainy day fund. As a result, Governor Kemp has the opportunity to help our citizens as inflation are high. Could this be potentially politically motivated? Perhaps but I do believe it is the. right thing to do regardless.
DeleteThis is very interesting. My sister is a teacher in a low-income area and they became apart of a fund administered by Kemp for all of their teachers to receive $350 to go towards their classroom. However, this number has now gone down to $120. Why the change? Is this is any way related to this?
ReplyDelete