Charlice Byrd

BY CHARLICE BYRD

Inflation is ravaging the economy, in part due to actions taken last year by Congress. Last year alone, Congress passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package and a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, thereby pumping huge sums of money into the economy and causing demand for goods and services to exceed supply.

Yet, even as inflation reaches a 40-year-high, the Senate is on the verge of passing House Bill 5376, the Build Back Better Act (https://bit.ly/3JtUktk), which would extend Affordable Care Act subsidies and overhaul Medicare.

Lawmakers claim that this bill won't exacerbate inflation — that the legislation will reduce inflation by cutting federal spending on Medicare drugs by more than the cost of the Obamacare subsidies.

However, the bill would appropriate tens of billions of dollars in new spending on subsidies that Congress created in 2021, as part of the $1.9 trillion relief package. And, that spending would occur almost immediately. In contrast, most of the Medicare changes don't kick in until 2025 or later. So, the bill would prove inflationary in the short term.

As most Americans know, pump prices skyrocketed nearly 50% in the past year (https://bit.ly/3vE1JAy). Meanwhile, grocery prices jumped 12.4% between June 2021 and June 2022, the biggest year-on-year gain on record (https://bit.ly/3BD1N7G).

The Federal Reserve has been hiking interest rates in a belated effort to get a grip on inflation. That's something the Fed has to do, but that doesn't mean it isn't painful. The U.S. economy contracted by 1.6% the first quarter of this year, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Inflation is running 9.1% nationwide (https://bit. ly/3OSrpjW), but Georgians are feeling some of the worst pain. In May, the inflation rate in Atlanta topped 10%, the second highest of any metropolitan area in the country (https://bit. ly/3zUhCFQ).

In a recent Ipsos poll, 32% of Americans listed "the economy, unemployment or jobs" as the most important issue facing the country — outpacing crime, a distant second at 10%. Folks in Georgia are especially focused on inflation: In a June Quinnipiac University poll, 41% of Georgians named inflation as the top issue facing the state.

Cherokee County residents need our U.S. senators to support the interests of taxpayers by opposing the Build Back Better Act.

Rep. Charlice Byrd represents Georgia House District 20. If you have any feedback, call 404-557-2218, email charlice.byrd@house.ga.gov or engage on Facebook.

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