As technology evolves and creates new opportunities to work in the tech industry, our state has a grand opportunity to keep these jobs in Georgia for the next generation. Over the years, elected leaders across Georgia have created an atmosphere that has allowed our tech sector to grow boundlessly. You can even observe earlier this year when Mayor Dickens expounded on his efforts to grow Atlanta’s tech sector, bolstering Georgia’s economy as a whole. With several fortune 500 companies based out of metro Atlanta, lawmakers must understand the conditions that have encouraged these companies to lay down their roots in Georgia.
However, I hope lawmakers also understand that some of the ongoing “trust busting” policy proposals and anti-tech sentiment is misguided, untimely, and could be antithetical to Georgia lawmaker’s efforts to retain our state’s high paying tech jobs.
Instead of the scramble to get more tech regulations signed into law, I would love to see Congress bring forward legislation that prepares children in both urban and rural communities for the tech jobs of the future. Making sure every child in our nation receives a quality education should be everyone’s top priority, however, that has been buried under frivolous big tech lawsuits and futile antitrust legislative efforts.
Right here in Georgia, families in our inner cities and rural communities alike suffered during the pandemic from our lack of infrastructure to support quality rural and urban internet connectivity. Furthermore, our Georgia universities and communities regularly receive major investments from the tech sector, bringing high paying jobs and opportunities to our state with them. Now we must make sure that children in Georgia have the resources and support needed to study at Georgia’s universities and obtain the tech jobs fostered by our state’s elected officials after graduation.
Moreover, America’s tech sector is under attack from GOP legislation in states across America. We need to look no further than to our southern border with Florida, and a legislature preparing to advance a number of problematic bills aimed at the tech sector. Let’s instead fight to continue producing economic opportunities for the American people. American’s tech companies are already facing a historic volume of layoffs to start this year have made that clear as day.
As this Congress continues their critical work, we trust that our leadership in Washington will remain focused on the laws that will truly uplift Georgia. We don’t want to see our high-paying tech jobs move elsewhere, or our children unprepared to take on those jobs. The more we can focus on real issues, and not politicized anti-tech policy, the larger Georgia’s tech sector can continue to grow.
