GSCPA Call with Senator David Perdue

On May 15, 2020, The Georgia Society of CPAs (GSCPA) hosted a call with a legislative update from Senator David Perdue. The legislative update focused on where Georgia and the nation stand in regard to COVID-19.

The call began with GSCPA CEO Boyd Search, praising the membership and the profession for “responding to this crisis in amazing, resilient ways.” Current Chair James Freeman agreed with the profession’s ability to rise above circumstance and welcomed Senator Perdue on the line.

The Senator began the call echoing his praise to the profession for assisting their clients in this time of need. Due to the crisis, Senator Perdue and his staff increased communication, adding more conference calls like this one to his schedule, speaking with 650,000 Georgians, learning how the virus has affected so many in various ways. Senator Perdue laid out the federal and state response in three phases. The first stage being mobilization, when the government initially took measures against the virus by closing, enacting states of emergency and sheltering in place.

Stage two, the transition phase we are in now, involves beginning to reopen the economy. The Senator understands this will be a very bumpy road and will be in communication with CPAs on how to enact this. It is also understood with so many rule changes, next year's tax season will be complicated for CPAs who work in the tax field.

The third phase, the recovery stage, is when the economy achieves stability and returns to normal, and when we can look back at our response and begin to learn what we did right and what we did wrong.

The Senator also mapped out the action Congress has taken to respond economically to the pandemic. Three separate economic stimulus packages have passed both house and senate, and the president has signed all. The first package contained eight billion for America to initially respond to the economic hardship brought on by the virus. The second package is adding 200 billion in paid-leave for workers. The third includes 2.2 trillion for health care, state and local government, and small businesses. An additional 310 million dollars was also added to the Payment Protection Plan (PPP), to assist more small businesses. Congress is now looking at the next phase and assessing if there is a need for more.

Senator Perdue praised the success of the PPP in distributing over 500 billion to small businesses that applied for the 600 billion appropriated for that program. He also praised the ability to pass the bipartisan bill, which saved community banks, helping the number of banks available for SBA loans go from 800 to 5000, offering service to small businesses applying for the loan.

The Senator is also focused on helping and reinforcing the food supply chain. Before the virus and new restrictions, food supply chains were evenly divided between grocery stores and restaurants. After restaurants began to close or limit their business, grocery stores saw a 60 percent increase in demand as restaurants saw a 90 percent drop in business. A primary focus for the Senator is to stabilize the food supply chain to ensure Americans continue to get their food on time.

James Freeman then inquired, “As businesses go down the road of making choices of when to reopen and softly reopen, business owners are worried about liability of employees and customers. The CDC released some guidance on liability, but is there any discussion to protect employers on liability?”

The Senator responded that for small businesses, a legal attack like this is something they cannot weather. Liability should be the last thing on a business owner’s mind as they begin to reopen. Those not following guidelines for protecting employees and customers should be held responsible, but those following the guidelines should have protection.

As the call began to wrap up, James Freeman asked if there were any positive notes the Senator could end on.

Senator Perdue recalled that same resiliency they all spoke of earlier in examples he had learned across the state. Soldiers on Ft. Benning, who had created a screening process to lower the chance of infection on the base. A Savannah apparel company who altered their business process to make masks instead of clothes. A corporate cafeteria adjusted to serve hospital workers while the business it originally served shut down. Several hotels and motels have offered free stays for nurses so they can do their job and not risk infecting their children.

Senator Perdue closed the call saying, “Americans deal with crisis better than any in the world. We will get back to normal but it will be a new normal. It’s been a lesson for all of us. Georgia is healthy as an economy, it’s listed as one of the best places to do business in our country and our Governor has a plan to bring it back.”