GPB News features the release of GBPI Policy Analyst Cedric Johnson’s new report, Making a Case for Need-based Financial Aid in Georgia. View the news article.

This week, the American Lung Association ranked Georgia dead last in the U.S. in efforts to help people stop smoking.  Alan Essig, executive director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Insitute, spoke with WABE’s Denis O’Hayer about the Tobacco Settlement fund and the lack of funding for smoking cessation programs. Listen now

Last week the University of Georgia hosted its annual economic forecast luncheon in Atlanta. Dr. Robert Sumichrast, dean of UGA’s Terry College of Business, painted a dire picture of Georgia’s economy and of our challenges in the coming years. It was the sort of presentation where you don’t know whether to clap or not at the end.

The Athens Banner-Herald subsequently highlighted the similarities between that forecast and GBPI’s new State of Working Georgia 2011 report, which outlines the startling reality of Georgia’s jobs crash in recent years.  Perhaps the most interesting part of the Athens article is the author’s description of Dr. Sumichrast’s and GBPI’s “markedly” different prescriptions for turning things around:

“The state should borrow money to build schools and infrastructure, help poor and unemployed people get through hard times with food, medical assistance and unemployment benefits, and put money into education, training a high-quality workforce, according to the GBPI.”

“The more conservative UGA business school called for economic development incentives for businesses, such as more tax breaks…State agencies and businesses also should fund more research and development projects and invest more in business start-ups based on innovative ideas, he said.”

It’s certainly true that GBPI believes in a balanced approach to economic growth—one that recognizes the vital importance of strategic investments, including those that ensure our at-risk neighbors aren’t left behind. A well-educated workforce and well-laid foundation for growth are essential to attracting new businesses and jobs. Responsible and transparent business incentives may have their place, but long-term job creation will require action on many fronts.

One area where Dr. Sumichrast and I see eye-to-eye is on his description of Georgia’s need to reposition for the future. Our economy of the past – which was fueled largely by population growth and the housing boom – isn’t coming back, so the trick is figuring out how we build one for the future. Dr. Sumichrast pointed to the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in creating new jobs, as well as the need to attract more young professionals (a sentiment being echoed by others as well).

I’m inclined to believe he’s onto something, but our policies must match up with our goals. All Georgians are committed to job creation and growth, but we can’t get there with the knee-jerk budget and tax cuts of recent years.

Hardworking Georgians know we need strategic investments in education, transportation, and public safety, because those are the things that make us an attractive place to live and work. Now all we need is practical, forward-looking leadership to help get us there. Georgia’s future won’t magically create itself–we have to invest in it ourselves.

Related materials:

State of Working Georgia

Economy, job outlook not getting better, analysts say

GBPI Director Alan Essig and Policy Analyst Wesley Tharpe are quoted in the SaportaReport on the challenges facing Georgia’s economic development. Read the article.

GBPI releases new report, Making a Case for Need-based Financial Aid in Georgia.  Download Press Release

Paying for college has often been a deal-breaker for many individuals desiring to pursue a post-secondary education. Georgia has long looked to its prized HOPE program as a resource for helping Georgia students finance a college education. While HOPE has helped many Georgia students pay for college over the years, it is important to recognize that the program is purely merit-based. To calm the nerves of proponents of merit-based incentives, I too am a proponent of rewarding merit – we’re on the same team here! Nevertheless, I also recognize that every student cannot graduate at the top of their class. It’s simply impossible. There will always be a student in the 95^th percentile, 70^th percentile, and unfortunately the 10^th percentile.

So, should qualified students who don’t make the top grades and have financial constraints forgo pursuing a post-secondary education? My personal opinion is no.

If equal opportunity is truly the goal of public policy then merit and need should be components of Georgia’s financial aid policies for higher education. What became apparent during the previous General Assembly is that the ability to pay for a postsecondary education is not a particular priority of the state’s financial assistance strategy. The elimination of all need-based grant aid from the state budget for fiscal year 2012 made this very clear.

I agree with pessimists who contend that hope alone will not solve societal problems. In this case I am referring to a HOPE program that faces a structural deficit, along with other public policies that present real costs to many families across Georgia. For Georgians concerned about the state’s future economic prosperity, disconnect between stated economic goals (e.g. building a more educated workforce) and enacted public policies (e.g. elimination of need-based financial aid programs) only makes competing for good paying jobs and building an economy in which all Georgians can participate and thrive more challenging.

GBPI recently released a report titled Making a Case for Need-based Financial Aid in Georgia. This report highlights how the increasing cost of higher education, disinvestment in state support for higher education, and declining household incomes for many Georgia families threatens to limit access to higher education in Georgia. It is difficult to imagine Georgia being an attractive place to raise a family or operate a business if it doesn’t invest in its future workforce today.

December 8th, 2011 Posted to Blog, Cedric Johnson, Education | Comments (3)

By 2020 an estimated 61 percent of all jobs in the state will require a career certificate or college degree; however, only 34 percent of adults in Georgia have an associate degree or higher. This creates a sizable skills gap that must be closed. Postsecondary education is becoming a necessity in a 21st century economy. Yet, students and families are confronted with the growing costs of higher education making it out of reach for many. The report, Making a Case for Need-based Financial Aid, uses data to demonstrates that a need-based financial aid program coupled with a reallocation of existing state funding could help to close the skills gap and make higher education more affordable for low-income students.

Various factors, including cost, influence whether a student pursues a postsecondary education and ultimately completes a program of study. The cost of higher education in Georgia has steadily increased over the past decade. Tuition and fees have increased by an average annual rate of 12.6 percent since 2000. The report highlights how the increasing cost of higher education and disinvestment in state support for higher education may limit access to higher education in Georgia.

The report also offers several recommendations to help build a workforce that can meet the demands of a 21st century economy.

Download the full report

Related blog post:

A Ray of “Hope” For Students Pursuing Higher Education

December 8th, 2011 Posted to Education, Home Tab 3, Library, Policy Areas, Reports | Comments (1)

GBPI Policy Analyst Wesley Tharpe is quoted in the Online Athens Banner-Herald on the job outlook for Georgians. Download the news article.

December 5th, 2011 Posted to GBPI In The News | Comments (1)

On December 31^st, everyone will gather together to welcome in the New Year.  Yet thousands of jobless Georgians worry today if Congress will pull the rug out from under them and their families in 2012.

In January 2012, nearly 70,000 Georgia workers, who lost their jobs due to no fault of their own, will be cut off from unemployment payments unless Congress passes legislation to renew the program before it expires on December 31^st.

Unemployment payments help workers make ends meet while they search for another job. Nationally, the average unemployed worker has looked for work for about 40 weeks, but the Georgia unemployment payments max out at 26 weeks. And in the South, for 4 out of 5 unemployed workers, there simply are no jobs.  Georgia needs to create at least half a million jobs to return to its pre-recession level but ranks dead last in job growth since the “recovery” started in June 2009. So, without additional weeks of federal unemployment payments and no job prospects, how will Georgians fare in 2012?

Cutting federal unemployment payments will increase the number of poor in our state and hurt local business. Last year, state and federal unemployment benefits kept 3.2 million Americans from slipping into poverty. Forget about “Black Friday”, unemployment payments benefit the local economy because jobless workers can continue to pay rent, buy groceries, and raise children. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that each $1 of unemployment payments generates up to $1.90 in economic growth.

Federal unemployment benefits have never been eliminated or reduced in the 75-year history of the unemployment program during periods of higher than average unemployment rates. And, the Economic Policy Institute estimates that continuing federal unemployment payments in 2012 will create or save 15,000 jobs in Georgia and 560,000 jobs nationwide.

When the clock strikes midnight on December 31^st, for the sake of our family, friends and local economies, let’s hope that Congress will make the right choice to extend federal unemployment payments.