"And the Small Business Administration plan was stood up, operationalized last Friday. In order to move legislation that size — $2 trillion, which is roughly 10% of our GDP in 2019 but amplified by the leverage effect of it in the economy — we’re talking about a package that has … the firepower of about a third of our U.S. economy being deployed in a matter of a few weeks. It’s a lot. That being said, I think that we have more bureaucracy to get out of the way. The bill did a good job of cutting red tape. We need to continue to cut red tape. We’re doing that in the form of the feedback that we’re giving directly to the Treasury. For example, I’ve spoken with (Treasury) Secretary (Steve) Mnuchin twice now since the SBA program started, in addition to writing letters detailing the areas of delay and confusion caused for the banks and the borrowers. So I am taking point on this to make sure that Georgians are heard in this and that they’re served quickly...
"The areas that I’m hearing most about do relate to small businesses. They relate to areas of liquidity and being able to keep their employees attached to them. And we know that this is important, not just because employees need their income, but they need their health insurance. They have careers, they have families and livelihoods that depend on these small businesses staying open. So as we learn more about the viability of this program to achieve those goals, we’re going to go back and look at what else needs to be done...
"We feel strongly about supporting small businesses. So we’ve really been trying to go to these restaurants’ websites, order online the family meals, use Uber eats. We’ve hit the Chick-fil-A drive thru several times. But we’re also looking for ways to help. So a couple of days ago, the governor let me know that … two Georgia couples were stuck in Florida coming off a cruise ship. They were unable to travel commercially because they were not tested for COVID. They were on a cruise ship that did have several dozen cases of COVID-19. We volunteered our plane to serve as their transportation back to Georgia...I had a couple of hospitals I sent lunch from Chick-fil-A to today and have really just also been reaching out to small businesses around the clock, literally on the phone with chambers of commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, helping them navigate through the CARES Act and letting them know that my office is here for them. So I really have kind of a 24/7 command center in my home...
"I would just say, my heart goes out to everyone impacted by this health emergency. I’m grateful for our frontline Americans that are helping us manage through this. While many shelter in place, there’s many out on the front lines whether driving a truck, delivering food to people like me from restaurants, doctors and nurses, our military who has mobilized. So I just want to say thank you to everyone who is doing their part."
You can read the full interview here.