Kemp visits Valdosta; seeks calm at gas pumps, touts budget

May 11—VALDOSTA — Gov. Brian Kemp came to Valdosta Tuesday to tout the state budget but tried soothing concerns regarding a possible fuel shortage.

Earlier in the day, Kemp suspended the collection of taxes on diesel and gasoline through midnight May 16.

His executive order Kemp signed Tuesday morning also increases the weight limit for trucks transporting fuel to gas stations.

"This combined with the federal government waiving hours of service requirements will ensure that the distributors are able to get fuel to stations as efficiently as they possibly can," he said.

The executive order is a response to the Colonial Pipeline cyber attack last Friday. Media coverage led people to run and purchase fuel which in turn led to price increases, Kemp said.

The measures are expected to be temporary as they await news of Colonial Pipeline restarting its services.

As a final measure, the executive order prohibits price gouging. Kemp said the state knows not all price increases count as price gouging but no one should be making a "quick buck" off of the pipeline disruption.

"The most important thing to remember is that Colonial continues to indicate that this is a short-term problem, so we want to encourage everyone to be patient," he said. "Don't make a run on the pumps and fill up every can you've got at the house. Get what you need but don't get more than you need.

"Give us a few days to get the supply chain back up and running," Kemp said.

As for the budget that Kemp signed May 10, he said it will set Georgia for a "safer, brighter and more prosperous future" in the wake of the pandemic.

The state budget won't raise taxes but won't cut essential services either, he said. It also won't spur widespread furloughs or layoffs.

"We have preserved our AAA bond rating, our rainy day fund remains incredibly strong and our continued support of economic development efforts have brought historic levels of job growth and investment as the number one state in the country for business," Kemp said, referencing the latter being the case for eight years in a row.

The budget will restore $577 million in school funding across the state with an additional $38 million designated for enrollment growth at state charter schools and to assist the school systems with the highest needs.

The state funds join more than $6 billion in federal assistance available to local school systems "to provide world-class education" to students in-person, five days a week.

Kemp said the state budget will yield $139 million to the University System of Georgia to help mitigate tuition increases by allocating funding for increased enrollment.

Valdosta State University specifically is receiving $12.4 million for its Performing Arts Center.

The Department of Early Care and Learning will receive $3.5 million from the budget to assist low-income families with childcare.

"These investments highlight our ongoing commitment to ensure every Georgia child, student and educator, as well as school staff members, have the resources and training, and tools that they need," Kemp said.

Georgia will be adding infrastructure investments, one of which is a $225 million investment with the Department of Transportation for roadway and transit projects.

One-hundred-and-twelve million dollars will be used to repair bridges and the state's rail network.

The state will give $10 million, on top of the $20 million from the amended 2021 budget, for local government grants for public/private partnerships for rural broadband development.

A rural innovation fund is being established at $40 million to provide resources and solutions for innovation in rural areas.

Medicaid and Peachcare are receiving more than $262 million to fund projected needs in health insurance for the upcoming fiscal year; $76 million will be set aside for the Patients First Act.

"As you all know, the Georgia Access piece of our health care waiver plan will increase access to affordable health care access for tens of thousands of low-income Georgians," Kemp said. "We look forward to fully implementing this plan this summer."

Looking back at the money given for VSU's Performing Arts Center, Kemp said the tourism industry was one of the things hit hardest during the pandemic.

The state gave $1 million to the tourism industry across the state during the pandemic which doesn't seem like much, Kemp said; it still kept many places open and allowed Georgia to shine when people had almost nowhere to go.

"When other states were closed down, their state parks were closed," he said. "You know where people came? To Georgia because we were open. That helped keep people going — small business people — and it helped people realize what a great asset we have in our state."

The hope now is that Georgia can continue to show its innovation as the economy continues to open up, Kemp said.