ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp weighed Georgia’s recovery against the hardships of the continuing pandemic in his annual State of the State address Thursday.

In his second year in office, the first-term Republican faced a deadly pandemic, mass protests for social justice and a fractured party after the 2020 election. But two years before he is up for reelection and after facing harsh criticism for reopening the state’s economy amid high virus spread, Kemp called the state’s economic rebound a success.

Kemp opened his speech by detailing the uphill battle against the pandemic — from the early outbreak in Albany, mass distribution efforts of personal protective equipment, the deployment of the National Guard to support nursing homes and the “hell on earth” that hospital staff and medical providers have experienced  for nearly a year.

But Kemp has long said as a governor he has to weigh both “lives and livelihoods” and defended the choices he’s made throughout the pandemic.

“I faced just a little criticism – from all sides – when we chose to safely and methodically reopen the state,” he said. “… But the voices I heard were the voices of men and women from Bainbridge to Bolingbroke to Baldwin, who had spent years building their business, creating jobs, sowing a harvest they hoped to one day reap for themselves and their families literally days away from losing it all.”

Last year, lawmakers were dealt a blow after being told they would need to cut $2.2 billion from state agencies as the virus shuttered businesses. The session’s budget decisions will likely be less strenuous, as the state’s economy seems to be on the mend.

After his address, the governor broke welcome news to lawmakers that his amended Fiscal Year 2021 and FY22 budgets would have no new cuts.

“Because we acted swiftly and early, the budgets my administration will propose in the coming days include no new cuts to state agencies and departments, no furloughs and no widespread layoffs of state employees,” he touted. “And, I might add: no new taxes to pay for it all.”

Boost for education, rural areas

The state’s education funding formula was slashed by nearly $1 million. The pandemic sent education into a spiral — teachers and parents struggled to keep children in learning. Schools across the state opened and shut back down within days after outbreaks. Scarce access to broadband in rural areas was amplified.

Kemp called on lawmakers to recommit nearly $1.2 billion to education in the state in the coming budgets. Kemp did not propose additional teacher pay raises but offered a one-time $1,000 supplement for educators and staff across the state through federal coronavirus relief funds.

“The daunting task of teaching Georgia’s next generation in the midst of COVID-19 has been anything but easy,” he said.

In partnership with the federal Department of Education, the governor said he intends to set aside $10 million in governor’s education relief funds to reimburse expenses that parents and guardians have incurred while managing education from home.

The Republican offered big boosts to rural Georgia, including nearly $40 million to establish a Rural Innovation Fund — aimed at providing resources dedicated to rural business growth — and $30 million in grants over the next 18 months to be put toward expanding rural broadband access.

Call to move forward

As the new year begins, Kemp is grappling with a split in the state Republican party and crushing defeat of Georgia’s two Republican U.S. senators by Democrats — although Republicans hold a majority in the Statehouse. His decision to appoint Kelly Loeffler to the vacant U.S. Senate seat is also a point of contention for those who would have preferred Doug Collins.

Thrust into the political spotlight, Georgia made headlines for its intra-party fighting, ultimately, between those who stand behind outgoing President Donald Trump’s false allegations of election fraud and those defending the integrity of the election process.

The governor found himself in the latter group and has had to reconcile with the blowback from factions of the Peach State’s Republican party. His primary voter base, rural Republicans, now a demographic he may have to win back.

Kemp tactfully avoided mentioning election fallout in his address but called for state lawmakers to unify, not further divide.

“It’s time to put our differences aside. Put 2020 in the rear-view,” he urged lawmakers. “Let’s stand together as Georgians and clear the destruction caused by the storms of life. Let’s clear away the conspiracy theories and the division. Let’s focus on the bountiful harvests to come.”

Kemp recalled the shocking “vigilante-style” killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick and noted the bipartisan effort that led to the state’s historic passing of hate crimes legislation. With that, Kemp announced he would be introducing legislation to reform Georgia’s controversial citizen’s arrest statute.

The Republican tactically avoided the heated debate over election reform that’s dominated conversation even in the first week of the legislative session. Despite Republican calls for stricter absentee voting laws — which Kemp supports — and outcry from Democrats who are fresh off big wins, the governor called for an end to “ridiculous and harmful conspiracies.”

“As we begin a new year, a new legislative session, there are some who want to look to the past, assign blame, settle old scores, and relive and relitigate 2020,” he said.

Democrats resounded to Kemp’s address by slamming him for omitting “shameful metrics” like the state’s extreme uninsured rates and rising COVID-19 cases.

“The governor asked us not to relive or relitigate 2020,” House Minority Leader Rep. James Beverly of Macon said. “2020 has led to worsening conditions because we didn’t do what we needed to do in the beginning.”

Beverly said Democrats were “pleasantly surprised” at the governor’s increased focus on rural broadband but said Republicans “have failed to address this theme for far too long.”

Atlanta Democratic Sen. Elena Parent — who faced death threats after challenging baseless voter fraud allegations — slammed Republicans for considering additional requirements for mail-in ballot voting.

“When Republican officials in our state saw the results of the election, they didn’t like the outcome. So now they’re looking for ways to turn back the time,” she said. “They can’t win with their policies. Their efforts to spread misinformation are backfiring and in fact leading to violence. So, now they’re left with one of their oldest and most trusted tools: voter suppression.”