Stay ahead of the curve as a political insider with deep policy analysis, daily briefings and policy-shaping tools.
Request a Demo‘Gas Is Ridiculous’: Georgians Weather Inflation with Few State Solutions
- Gas prices have soared 35% – from $2.90 to $4.49 a gallon for regular fuel – over the past year.
- Grocery prices for items like milk – 25% higher – and eggs – 43% higher -- have also spiked.
- Will Federal Reserve interest rate hikes bring relief to Georgians struggling amid inflation?
The Gist
From Atlanta to Savannah, inflation is pummeling people in Georgia. Costs have doubled recently to buy groceries or fill up the gas tank, leaving many Georgians asking what their elected leaders can do to help ease the financial pain.
What’s Happening
The perfect storm of global supply chain disruptions, heavy public spending on the Covid-19 pandemic, and oil uncertainty from the Russia-Ukraine war have shot up prices from milk and chicken to gasoline and used cars across the U.S., including Georgia.
“When the not-so-organic section is the same price or higher as the organic section, we have a major red flag here,” said Ashley Bruce, an Atlanta metro bartender with four young kids. She’s seen prices double for her home’s staples like mangos, broccoli and milk in recent months. “And the meat section?” she added. “Forget about it.”
Prices for gas and groceries like milk, bread, meat and eggs have shot up in Georgia and across the U.S. over the past year. (Credit: Brittney Phan for State Affairs)
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates higher than it has in nearly three decades, aiming to wrangle inflation levels that have caused rent, groceries and gas prices to soar faster in the Atlanta area than any other urban zone in the country, except Phoenix. As of April, prices overall in the Atlanta area were nearly 11% higher than they were a year ago.
But don’t expect a break on stiff gas and food bills anytime soon, local economists say. Inflation will likely continue taking its toll on Georgians struggling to stretch their dollars at the pump and grocery shelves for at least another year or more. And there’s little Georgia government officials can do about it.
“I think we’ve exhausted the state-level options,” said Gopinath Munisamy, head of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia. “In my view, the federal government has more tools than the state government on this issue.”
Grocery Stores
Kelsey Tyree, a software company owner in the Savannah area, said she’s resorted to “small-time couponing” as a tactic to cover her family’s groceries. She hops from Kroger to Publix to Dollar General, hunting for deals.
“If Dollar General has a coupon sale for detergent, that’s where I’ll get my detergent,” said Tyree. Her grocery runs have spiked from $200 every other week last September, to $300 when her newborn son arrived in January. Now, she’s shelling out $400. “It’s a whole day trip just going to different stores.”
Prices have been punishing for grocery stores in Georgia and beyond. In Atlanta, a gallon of milk has jumped 25% to $4.29 last month from $3.26 in May 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Eggs across the South have risen a staggering 43% to $2.60 from $1.49 over the past year.
Some foods have also gotten scarce outside Atlanta. Shavokia Bryant, a nurse who runs the Atlanta-based John-Trell Foundation, travels between Atlanta, Macon and Albany giving food to the homeless. Even though it’s more expensive, she buys whole chickens in bulk in Atlanta, makes hot meals out of them, and brings them to homeless people in Macon and Albany where bulk chicken is harder to come by.
“Nine times out of 10, Albany doesn’t have chicken cases,” Bryant said. “We’ve been blessed with the means to afford things and still move forward with our mission. But for people who cannot afford it, I feel bad for them.”
Shavokia Bryant prepares and gives food to the homeless in the Atlanta, Albany and Macon areas through the John-Trell Foundation. (Credit: Shavokia Bryant)
Residents throughout the state are wondering what more, if anything, the state can do to help?
Gov. Brian Kemp used executive powers in April to reduce limits on how much weight commercial truckers can carry and the hours they can drive – a move aimed at clearing up backlogs on trucking routes to hasten food and other goods to local stores.
Several economists interviewed by State Affairs, however, suggested the governor could temporarily suspend some amount of local sales taxes to give grocery shoppers some price relief. Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political science professor, said a Georgia governor has not suspended sales taxes in the last 50 years. Kemp’s office did not immediately respond when asked if the governor is considering a sales-tax suspension.
Outside tax breaks, the state Department of Agriculture has not asked the USDA to relax rules on food production or distribution requirements that might help lower food costs, said agency spokesman Bo Warren. The agriculture department has recently started work on a new program to send Georgia-grown farm products directly to local food banks.
That program should help boost donations to local food pantries, churches and other groups that have seen huge demand amid the Covid-19 pandemic and high inflation, said Jon West, a vice president with the nonprofit Atlanta Community Food Bank. Atlanta-area food pantries serve around 500,000 each month, he said – up from around 300,000 before the pandemic. And those that are served are from the poor to the middle class.
“Inevitably, as food costs go up, those donations are harder to get,” West said. “Hopefully some folks step up and fill that gap, but that just doesn’t always happen.”
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the “Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act” that would send farmers $750 million to buy equipment that would help them reduce fertilizer and fuel costs. All six of Georgia’s Democratic congress members voted in favor of the bill. All eight Republican members voted against the bill.
Gas Stations
Gas is so expensive now that Karina Figueroa, a stay-at-home mom in Dahlonega, doesn’t visit her mother in metro Atlanta twice a week anymore. It takes $50 to fill the tank in her husband’s car – and he needs every bit of it for traveling to Cobb County for his job as a construction worker, a commute that takes more than an hour each way to complete.
“There’s no point in me taking a joy ride to visit my mom when he has to use gas to [get to] work,” Figueroa said. “Gas is ridiculous.”
The graph shows the rise in the consumer price index for the metro Atlanta area from April 2019 to April 2022. (Credit: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
While Georgia’s gas prices are hovering below the $5 national average at $4.49 for regular-grade fuel, they’re still significantly higher than the $2.90 for regular fuel a year ago, according to AAA’s gas-price survey.
Tyree, the software-company president in Savannah, has used her couponing method to rack up gas discounts at stations run by Kroger, which lets customers shave off costs from pumping gas whenever they shop for groceries. Still, gas has leapt from $30 to fill up Tyree’s Subaru to now “pushing $60.”
Bruce, the Atlanta bartender, also takes advantage of the Kroger deal. She tries to fill up near her suburban home in Stockbridge, where she said gas is about 30-cents cheaper than in Atlanta. But her commutes around Atlanta, where public transit isn’t easy enough to reach where she needs to go, still pack a punch to her wallet.
“What are you going to do?” Bruce said. “You’re not going to fill your tank up? You have to pay the prices.”
Ashley Bruce is one of many Georgians juggling finances to cope with high gas and grocery prices amid inflation. (Credit: Ashley Bruce)
Amid global shipping snarls and oil disruptions in Russia, local economists say there’s little else Georgia officials can do to lower gas prices besides suspending the sales tax on gasoline, which Kemp did last month. Suspending the gas tax hacks off around 30-cents per gallon for Georgia drivers. The current suspension order is set to last until mid-July.
Electricity & Air Conditioning
With auto gas and food prices rocketing across Georgia, residents have largely been spared similar cost increases on their monthly energy bills. Georgia Power, which serves most of the state’s homes and businesses, needs approval from the state Public Service Commission (PSC) before recovering higher fuel costs with customer charges. The utility hasn’t sought that approval yet, said commission spokesman Tom Krause.
Overall, Georgia homes and businesses consuming an average 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month – roughly the national average for a typical American home – hasn’t changed much since last year, hovering around $125 between winter 2021 and winter 2022, according to PSC data.
Georgia Power has not yet asked state regulators for approval to hike customer charges to cover higher fuel costs amid inflation. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Local energy providers that do not require PSC approval to change billing rates have hiked costs over the last year. Average monthly bills shot up $10 or more for some municipal and electric cooperative customers in North Georgia’s Blue Ridge, south of Atlanta in College Park, and in South Georgia’s Irwin County.
Despite reassurances from state regulators, some Georgians still wonder how much inflation is creeping into their monthly energy bills. Tyree says her bill’s gone up about $50 since summer started – from around $150 to $200. But that could just as easily be blamed on running the air conditioning more often with a newborn in the house, she acknowledged.
“It’s kind of hard to say just because Savannah’s terrible this time of year,” Tyree said. “Everybody’s electric bill is really high.”
What’s Next?
Economists are closely watching how the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike on Wednesday will affect demand and borrowing. They expect the central bank to bump in interest rates again by September, unless inflation cools off significantly over the next month.
In the meantime, local economists tell State Affairs that Georgians should strap in for high gas and grocery prices for at least another year. Tibor Besedes, a Georgia Institute of Technology economics professor, said that means Georgians on tight budgets will need to clamp down on their personal spending.
“The best that consumers can do is try to adjust their consumption patterns,” Besedes said. “Shop for deals, perhaps shop in cheaper stores, and driving-wise, perhaps combine or condense trips.”
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon contributed to this story.
Resources
- Georgia Food Pantries: Find your local food pantry
- Apply for SNAP benefits: Online portal
- Georgia Attorney General’s Office: Report price gouging
Join The Conversation
What else do you want to know about inflation and the state government in Georgia? Share your thoughts/tips by emailing [email protected].
Read State Affairs' coverage on inflation:
Read this story for free.
Create AccountRead this story for free
By submitting your information, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy.
House speaker Jon Burns hires new communications director
House speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, announced today that he has hired a new communications director. Kayla Roberson, who has served as press secretary at the Georgia Chamber for the past year or so, will now oversee all external communications, media relations and strategic messaging for Burns.
“I’m excited to welcome Kayla to our team,” Burns said in a statement. “Kayla has an excellent background, deep skill set and strong work ethic, and we’re excited to have her on board to continue getting our message out and sharing the House’s priorities ahead of and into the next session.”
A double major in political science and journalism at the University of Georgia, where she graduated in 2022, Roberson interned for U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican in north Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, and worked as a consultant for GOP political candidates before joining the Georgia Chamber.
“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to work under the leadership of speaker Burns,” Roberson told State Affairs. “Whether it’s improving education opportunities, putting money back in the pockets of hardworking Georgians, creating jobs or supporting our rural communities, speaker Burns always prioritizes doing what is best, and what is right, for Georgia.”
Political strategist Stephen Lawson, who has held the top communications role for the speaker since last December, announced he’s joining Dentons, where starting today he’ll lead the global law firm’s public affairs efforts.
Have questions or comments? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on X @journalistajill or at [email protected].
Global bird flu disrupts Georgia exports, costing chicken producers millions
ATLANTA — A global bird flu that has rapidly spread from birds to dairy cows, milk supplies and humans has cost untold millions of dollars in lost export business in Georgia, the nation’s leading poultry producer, officials with the state Department of Agriculture and poultry industry said.
Georgia has had only three reported cases of H5N1 avian influenza since it reemerged in 2022. The last of those cases was resolved in November 2023 but ramifications of those outbreaks continue to have a big effect on the state’s ability to export chicken and chicken parts, such as chicken feet, to different countries, including China, one of Georgia’s biggest export markets for chicken feet.
In 2022, frozen chicken feet, for example, accounted for more than 85% of all U.S. poultry exported to China, according to Farm Progress, publisher of 22 farming and ranching magazines.
The $30 billion poultry industry is Georgia’s largest segment in its No. 1 industry — agriculture.
China has also placed a ban on the import of chicken products from 41 other American states. The ban on Georgia products went into effect Nov. 21, 2023. Efforts to reach the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. were unsuccessful.
Georgia Poultry Federation President Mike Giles estimates the state’s loss at “well into the millions of dollars.”
“It’s a significant amount in a significant export market for us,” he said. “Poultry paws [feet] immediately lose value because of the loss of demand.”
The ban has forced Georgia poultry producers to find alternative markets for their products that would normally be headed to China.
“Some are sold domestically, some are frozen and stored, hopefully to find markets later on, and some go to other countries,” Giles said.
This isn’t the first time China has banned U.S.-produced poultry products due to a bird flu outbreak. The country instituted a ban in January 2015 which lasted until November 2019 — even though U.S. poultry products were deemed free of the disease by August 2017.
After that ban was lifted, China’s appetite for American-produced chicken products became voracious.
In 2022, U.S. producers shipped nearly $6 billion in poultry meat and related products (excluding eggs) to over 130 countries. China has emerged as the second largest destination for U.S. poultry exports, increasing from $10 million in 2019 to a record $1.1 billion in 2022, according to Southern Ag Today.
Chicken paws, for instance, are eaten in many Asian countries, including the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Korea.They can also be found on Chinese dim sum menus throughout the U.S. and are also popular in Jamaica, Trinidad, Russia and Ukraine in everything from soups and curries to fried snacks.
Three Georgia counties have reported H5N1 outbreaks since 2022. The most recent case was late last year. Henry, Sumter and Toombs counties each reported one case of H5N1 bird flu. Those outbreaks are resolved, poultry and state agriculture officials say.
“When HPAI cases are found in any state, that state is given a designation that could lead to foreign countries halting trade on poultry products from that state,” Georgia Department of Agriculture spokesman Matthew Agvent told State Affairs.
Not since 2016 has the United States experienced such a fast-moving case of the H5N1 avian influenza. In the last two months, the virus has spread in parts of the United States from birds to dairy cows, some milk supplies and humans. Two people — a Texas dairy worker and a prison inmate in Colorado who was killing infected birds at a poultry farm — are reported to have caught the virus, according to news reports. The outbreak is the largest in recent history, impacting both domestic poultry and livestock as well as wild birds and some mammal species.
State officials are continuing to monitor the national outbreak and its impact on Georgia.
Georgia’s poultry & egg industry: At A Glance
Annual economic impact: $30.2 billion
Percentage of the Agriculture industry: 58% *
Jobs: 87,900
Counties involved in poultry & egg production: 3 out of 4
National ranking in chicken broiler production: No. 1
Daily production of table eggs: 7.8 million
Daily production of hatching eggs: 6.5 million
Pounds of chicken produced daily: 30.2 million
Pounds of chicken produced annually: 8 billion
Number of chicken broilers processed each day: 5 million
Counties involved in poultry & egg production: 3 out of 4
Source: Georgia Poultry Federation; The Center for Agribusiness & Economic Development, University of Georgia, Ag Snapshots 2024; Georgia Poultry Federation.
Have questions? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
Is it safe to eat chicken and eggs and drink milk? Answers to your most pressing questions about the latest bird flu outbreak
A two-year-old strain of bird flu has heightened concerns in Georgia and the rest of the country after the virus recently spread to dairy cows. Here’s what you need to know about the virus and its impact on Georgia and the rest of the country. What are the symptoms of this flu in humans? Eye …
Kemp signs bills on education, health care, taxes
Gov. Brian Kemp signed a slew of bills over the past week or so, including the private school voucher bill long sought by Republicans and a bill that will ease regulations over the construction and expansion of medical facilities in rural areas.
His bill-signing events were clustered into themes: education, health care, military members, human trafficking and Georgia’s coastal communities.
Education
Among the education-related bills Kemp signed was Senate Bill 233, also known as the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, which provides the families of Georgia students enrolled in underperforming school districts with $6,500 scholarships that can be used toward private school or homeschooling expenses, including tuition, fees, textbooks and tutoring.
“Georgia is affording greater choice to families as to how and where they receive their education, while also continuing our efforts to strengthen public schools, support teachers, and secure our classrooms,” Kemp said, and thanked leadership in the House and Senate for prioritizing passage of the bill, which had failed in a close vote in 2023.
Democrats and many public education advocates who opposed the bill argued it will drain resources from public schools and primarily benefit students from wealthy families.
Kemp also signed Senate Bill 351, sponsored by nine Republican senators, which will require social media companies, as of July 1, 2025, to verify their users are at least 16 years old unless they receive approval from a parent.
House Bill 409, sponsored by Rep. Lauren Daniel, R-Locust Grove, directs school systems to consider not having bus stops where a student would have to cross a roadway with a speed limit of 40 mph or greater. The bill also increases the penalty for passing a stopped school bus to $1,000 from $250.
Kemp noted that Ashley Pierce, the mother of Addy Pierce, an 8-year-old who was fatally struck by a motorist as she boarded her school bus, “passionately advocated for and was instrumental in the passage of this legislation.”
Senate Bill 395, sponsored by Sen. Clint Dixon, R-Gwinnett, states that no school visitor or personnel can be prohibited from possessing an opioid reversal drug such as Narcan and directs schools to maintain a supply. It also allows opioid antagonists to be sold in vending machines and directs certain government buildings to maintain a supply of at least three doses.
Senate Bill 464, also sponsored by Dixon, creates the School Supplies for Teachers Program to financially and technically support teachers purchasing school supplies online. It also creates an executive committee of five voting members within the Georgia Council on Literacy and limits the number of approved literacy screeners to five, one of whom must be available to schools for free.
Health care
The governor chose his hometown of Athens as the venue to sign several bills aimed at improving health care in rural and underserved communities.
Among them was House Bill 1339, sponsored by Rep. Butch Parrish, R-Swainsboro, which revises the Certificate of Need process by which the state determines if and how new medical facilities can be built or expanded. The bill provides for several new exemptions, including psychiatric or substance abuse inpatient programs, basic perinatal services in rural counties, birthing centers and new general acute hospitals in rural counties. It also raises the total limit on tax credits for donations to rural hospital organizations to $100 million from $75 million.
Senate Bill 480, sponsored by Sen. Mike Hodges, R-Brunswick, establishes student loan repayments for mental health and substance use professionals serving underserved youth in the state or in unserved geographic areas disproportionately impacted by social determinants of health.
House Bill 872, sponsored by Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville, chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee, expands cancelable loans for certain health care professionals to dental students who agree to practice in rural areas.
Senate Bill 293, sponsored by Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, reorganizes county boards of public health and opens the qualifications for the CEO of each county board of health to include either licensed physicians or people with a master’s degree in public health or a related field.
Military members and veterans
Kemp on Wednesday focused on bills to improve military recruitment and provide more work opportunities for veterans and military family members.
House Bill 880, sponsored by Rep. Bethany Ballard, R-Warner Robins, allows spouses of military service members to work under a license they hold in good standing in another state while under the supervision of an existing Georgia medical facility or provider.
Senate Bill 449, sponsored by Sen. Larry Walker, allows military medical personnel to practice for 12 months while a license application is pending, including working as a certified nursing aide, certified emergency medical technician, paramedic or licensed practical nurse. The bill also creates a new advanced practice registered nurse license and makes it a misdemeanor to practice advanced nursing without a license.
Human trafficking
The governor on Wednesday was accompanied by first lady Marty Kemp and other members of the GRACE Commission for the signing of an anti-human trafficking package. It includes Senate Bill 370, which adds certain businesses to the list of organizations that must post human trafficking notices, including convenience stores, body art studios, businesses that employ licensed massage therapists and manufacturing facilities.
Sponsored by Sen. Mike Hodges, R-Brunswick, the bill also allows the Georgia Board of Massage Therapy to initiate inspections of massage therapy businesses and educational programs without notice and requires massage therapy board members to complete yearly human trafficking awareness training.
House Bill 993, sponsored by Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, creates the felony offense of grooming of a minor and creates new penalties for offenses relating to visual mediums depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
House Bill 1201, sponsored by Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, allows human trafficking survivors who received first offender or conditional discharge status to vacate that status for certain crimes, as long as the crime was a direct result of being a victim of human trafficking.
Coastal communities
Earlier today in Brunswick, Kemp signed legislation impacting Georgia coastal communities, including House Bill 244, which amends the laws around how wild game can be hunted and how seafood dealers operate, and House Bill 1341, which designates white shrimp as the state’s official crustacean.
Taxes
Earlier this month Kemp signed several bills related to taxation, including House Bill 1015, sponsored by Rep. Lauren McDonald, R-Cumming, which lowers the state income tax for tax year 2024 to 5.39%, accelerating a multiyear drop in state income taxes that started at 5.75% in 2023 and will continue through 2029.
The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget estimates the tax cut acceleration will save Georgia taxpayers approximately $1.1 billion in calendar year 2024 and about $3 billion over the next 10 years.
Kemp also signed House Bill 1021, sponsored by Rep. Lauren Daniel, R-Locust Grove, which increases the state’s income tax dependent exemption to $4,000 from $3,000.
House Bill 581, sponsored by Reps. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, and Clint Crowe, R-Jackson, enables a constitutional amendment (House Resolution 1022) to let voters decide whether counties can provide a statewide homestead valuation freeze, which limits the increase in property values to the inflation rate.
The governor has until May 7 to sign or veto bills passed during the legislative session that ended on March 28. Those he takes no action on will automatically become law.
Legislation signed by Kemp is posted on the governor’s website.
Read these related stories:
Have questions, comments or tips on education in Georgia? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on X @journalistajill or at [email protected].
Facebook @STATEAFFAIRSGA
Instagram @STATEAFFAIRSGA
LinkedIn @STATEAFFAIRS