By David Perdue While the U.S. Senate is in August recess, Sen. David Perdue is traveling across the state meeting with Georgia business owners who have benefited from a massive coronavirus relief package passed by Congress earlier this year. Perdue, who is running for reelection this year, said in an interview that the Paycheck Protection Program was a lifeline for companies that were trying to stay afloat during the beginning of the pandemic. "In Georgia, we've saved about 1.5 million jobs because of the PPP program," Perdue said. "I've been in places like Valdosta, Atlanta and Smyrna talking to people who have taken these loans." More than $14 billion in forgivable loans were administered to 156,000 Georgia businesses, covering 86% of the state's small business payroll, according to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration. In Valdosta last week, Perdue visited Friends Grille+Bar, part of a three-restaurant group that laid off 75% of its employees at the start of the coronavirus pandemic but was able to bring them all back thanks to the PPP. Congressional negotiations over a new round of COVID-19 relief are currently stalled, but Perdue said his conversations with business owners only strengthens his determination to find a solution soon. "We're having some political difficulties, but we want to make sure that the small businesses that have survived the first few months of this have enough to come back," he said. "You've got a health crisis first and, because of that, we shut the economy down to try and deal with it. ... That created an economic crisis." Perdue pointed to recent jobs numbers that show 7.5 million jobs added back in May and June, mostly from previously displaced workers that benefited from the federal government's assistance. He supports the HEALS Act, a new Republican Senate proposal that contains similar elements to the CARES Act, like direct payments to Americans and more money for testing and small businesses. "It is going to have to be a bipartisan solution between primarily Democrats in the House and Republicans in the Senate," he said. "But we're focused on jobs. This is what the whole thing has been about all along, we want to protect jobs!" The next phase of handling the coronavirus pandemic is school reopening, Perdue said, and something that goes "hand in glove" with restarting the economy. "I don't want the federal government dictating or determining how a local school system operates," he said. "But there are things the federal government can do." His proposal for the Safely Creating Healthy Opening Options Locally, or SCHOOL Act, is a $50 billion program that would give grants to systems for personal protective equipment, more testing and better communication for systems to share best practices and virus information with students and parents. "Eighty percent of our deaths are north of 65 years of age, and a high percentage of those have comorbidities," Perdue said. "Having said that, we know that children interact with their parents and adults all the time, so this is something we have to look at in a holistic way." School systems across the state have taken different paths toward starting the academic year, ranging from online only to in-person instruction, and nearly all of those methods have encountered hiccups. Perdue said the variety of decisions makes funding for rural broadband, telehealth and education even more important. Finally, Perdue said Georgians should feel confident in the preparation state and local elections officials are making for the November general election. "I want every single eligible voter in Georgia to vote, because that's what a representative democracy assumes," he said. "And the way you do that is you have a flexible system that allows everybody wherever they are to be able to vote." Perdue faces a tight race with Democrat Jon Ossoff this November, one of several closely watched Senate contests that could decide control of the upper chamber. Libertarian Shane Hazel is also on the ballot. Perdue, who has voted by mail in recent elections, also said concerns over the Postal Service's ability to handle a crush of absentee ballots is a "distraction." Georgia has three weeks of in-person early voting, no-excuse absentee-by-mail voting and Election Day voting.

By Senators Kevin Cramer, Joni Ernst, and David Perdue "As folks in our home states of North Dakota, Iowa, Georgia, and across the country are adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic, it's become clear that access to the internet is paramount. "As you might imagine, the uptick in internet activity is noticeable. According to the Rural Broadband Association, since the COVID-19 national emergency was declared on March 13, its broadband providers have experienced increases in usage, as people are downloading and uploading data at significantly higher rates. "The reason behind the spike is pretty simple. Teachers and students are using broadband to keep the school year on schedule. Companies are moving their workplaces online, and employees are using broadband to stay connected. Healthcare providers are utilizing telehealth to connect with patients. People across the country are using the internet to apply for resources and to seek assistance. Families are relying on broadband to get updates from friends and loved ones. Immunocompromised individuals are using the internet to acquire necessities they need instead of going to a physical store. "These and other functions need to be protected, yet many providers are beginning to feel this pandemic's economic impact. In the same survey previously mentioned, more than 54% of respondents from 38 states have seen an increase of up to 20% in uncollectible payments. "Many of these broadband providers have taken the Federal Communications Commission's Keep Americans Connected Pledge. By taking the pledge, it has agreed to: not terminate service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills during this pandemic; waive any late fees that any residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances; and to open its Wi-Fi hot spots to anyone who needs them. "Maintaining a reliable internet connection, especially for people in our rural communities, is critically important to weathering the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress needs to play its part in keeping folks connected. "That is why we've teamed up with our Democratic and Republican colleagues to help tackle this issue. Our bipartisan bill, (led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar) the Keeping Critical Connections Act, would create a program using existing, unobligated funds to incentivize small broadband providers to deliver free or discounted broadband services or upgrades for low-income families struggling to pay their bills or who have a student in the household in need of distance-learning capability during COVID-19. This will help our rural communities stay connected, as many of these small broadband providers serve our remote areas. "We cannot allow the COVID-19 pandemic to increase the digital divide that continues to plague our nation. Whether it's to help our schools, businesses, and healthcare providers operate remotely, or making sure people stay connected, reliable broadband connectivity is as important as ever. "This bipartisan effort will help keep our citizens connected while making sure our smaller providers are made whole as we make it through these challenging days. This would be an important step to protecting internet connectivity for all, and we are urging our congressional colleagues to join us in this fight."

By: U.S. Senator David Perdue (R-GA) Right now, the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus is creating an economic crisis in the United States. As the public take critical steps to reduce viral transmission, consumer demand is plummeting. Businesses large and small are losing access to liquidity, putting them at serious risk of becoming insolvent and displacing millions of workers. As the federal government weighs a Phase Three relief bill to preserve the economy and millions of jobs, one thing is clear: We cannot let a liquidity crisis become an insolvency crisis. At the center of this issue are the relationships between employers and employees. With reduced revenues, businesses cannot make payroll, meaning furloughs and even pink slips for millions of U.S. citizens. Once this crisis ends, companies will scramble to hire back displaced employees. Getting our economy back up and running will be much harder. However, many in Washington are focusing on short-term solutions, such as emergency payments to U.S. citizens facing a potential interruption in their paycheck. That may be a necessary step in this crisis, but it barely scratches the surface of what most families need. This is why the federal government's No. 1 focus should be helping companies make payroll to keep as many people employed as possible. If we inject liquidity into the market, people will still have a job to go back to when the coronavirus is contained. There are five steps the federal government can take right now to provide much-needed liquidity to businesses. Guarantee short-term business bridge loans. We need to create a credit facility to bypass bureaucracy and help banks and credit unions provide bridge loans to struggling businesses immediately. This injection of cash will help businesses stay afloat and pay their employees. Provide a nine-month waiver on the payroll tax. At this critical moment, employers and employees need all the capital they can get to keep people on the payroll. Delay federal tax estimates. All federal business tax estimates should be delayed until October. Additionally, all net operating loss claims should be carried back at least two years, and the IRS should process them promptly. Halt troubled debt restructuring. Troubled debt restructuring reduces the incentive for banks to work out new loan agreements with struggling borrowers. We have to temporarily halt this practice to make sure banks are giving businesses all the help they can. Delay or repeal the implementation of the Current Expected Credit Losses standard. This new standard makes it unnecessarily difficult for banks and credit unions to lend in a distressed economic environment. Eliminating it will help free up access to loans for every business. The extraordinary measures the U.S. is taking to contain the spread of the coronavirus are absolutely critical to protect public health. Expanding testing, isolation of infected individuals, and social distancing will help to reduce the rate of new infections per day, as they have in countries such as South Korea. However, reduced demand in the market will force many American businesses to collapse and completely devastate the economic recovery we were starting to see in the U.S. If businesses go insolvent today, then the economy and the finances of U.S. citizens will suffer long after the coronavirus is contained. The five steps outlined above will go a long way to ensuring that large and small businesses have the liquidity they need to stay afloat, meet their payroll, and hit the ground running once the public health crisis ends. What the Senate is contemplating in this Phase Three bill is not a bailout, nor is it a stimulus package. It protects workers. We need to keep people healthy, but we also have to learn from what countries ahead of us in this cycle are doing to get their workforce back into operation. We may not be there yet, but we can get there if we act now. This is an unprecedented time for our country and our world. We have faced many challenges before, and I have no doubt that we will all rise to this challenge and come out of this crisis stronger as a country. No virus will ever break the American spirit.