Pence: Georgia Is 'Leading The Way' In Reopening Efforts

ATLANTA, GA — Vice President Mike Pence spent an hour with local restaurant executives along with Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia Friday and told the group that local businesses have two duties as they attempt to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.

The goal, Pence said, is to reopen safely and put people back to work.

“But,” the vice president continued, “we also have to keep following the guidelines.”

Pence's visit to Atlanta wrapped up after meeting with the group at Waffle House headquarters in Norcross, which included the restaurant chain’s CEO, Walt Ehmer, who said his company lost 80 percent of its business over the past two months due to the pandemic.

“We simply didn’t have the resources to take care of our own people,” Ehmer said, according to WSB-TV. “And that’s a devastating feeling to have."

However, after Kemp issued an executive order last month that allowed restaurants to reopen at the end of April, Ehmer told Pence that 70 percent of the restaurant’s business has returned and Waffle House has rehired 2,000 people.

Small business owners could soon receive an extension to the eight-week window in which they are required to spend loans from the Small Business Association’s Paycheck Protection Plan, Pence reportedly told restaurant officials during Friday’s roundtable discussion. Across Georgia, he said that 131,000 small businesses have received $14 billion in PPP loans.

Lawmakers are also looking into a Phase 4 coronavirus recovery package that would include “a number of things," Pence said.

"But even before that, we are working with members of Congress in both parties to extend paycheck protection for just the reasons that you've said,” Pence told the group. “The president's made it a priority. We're working to do that in real time."

Pence, who dined on meatloaf, pulled pork and sweet tea at Star Café in northwest Atlanta before meeting with the restaurant group around 2 p.m., praised the state’s efforts to reopen. The position is a reversal from the White House's earlier criticism of Kemp’s plan to get Georgia’s economy going again.

The criticism was loudest in comments made by President Donald Trump, who said it was “just too soon” for businesses such as tattoo parlors and bowling alleys to reopen.

“They can wait a little bit longer,” Trump said last month. “Safety has to predominate.”

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About three dozen diners were reportedly at Star Café during Pence’s visit. Despite Kemp’s urging for residents to wear face coverings while in public, media members traveling with the vice president said that neither Pence nor Kemp nor many in their entourage wore masks. Restaurant employees all wore masks, according to reports, which is in accordance with Kemp’s COVID-19 requirements for restaurants statewide that are open for dine-in service.

Kemp said during Friday’s roundtable that restaurant employees will need to continue to wear masks for the foreseeable future, but that he may loosen restrictions on them wearing gloves.

Following the meeting with restaurant executives, Pence returned to Washington aboard Air Force Two from Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta.

"Because of what you’ve done, we are now in a position to open up America again. In that respect Georgia is leading the way,” Pence said. “I have to tell you the president and I could not be more proud or more grateful for the clear, courageous, principled leadership of Governor Brian Kemp.”

See Also:

• Reopening Georgia: Bar Ban Extended, New Restaurant Guidelines
• Gov. Kemp Defends Decision To Reopen: GA Coronavirus Update
• Waffle House CEO Says New Rules Will Be Set For GA Reopening