Lawmakers in self-isolation are taking it one step at a time
Featured, Politics March 19, 2020
Two local lawmakers encouraged to take it one step at a time amid self-isolation after one lawmaker tested positive for COVID-19, prompting 236 lawmakers and their staff to go into self-isolation for 14 days.
Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta received a positive test, after turning up for Monday’s special session. The special session was to pass a
Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) tested positive for COVID-19, prompting all of Georgia’s lawmakers to go into self-isolation.
joint resolution agreeing with Governor Brian Kemp’s emergency declaration. Now, all 236 law makers and their staff have been told to self-isolate 14 days. To read the memo posted to by the Georgia House of Representatives, go here.
For Sen. Chuck Payne, R-Dalton said he is taking each day as it comes.
“We just roll with it,” he said, adding he considers himself fortunate that his children are grown and on their own.
“There are some who still have small children at home and their situation is different,” he said.
One of those with small children is Rep. Kevin Cooke, R-Carrollton. Cooke and his wife, Crystal, have two daughters, Ella, 8 and Sadie, 6. Cooke said he feels great and has no symptoms, but is taking the isolation seriously.
Cooke said it’s been tough in that his girls are used to giving him hugs and climbing up in his lap while he sits in the recliner and now there is no contact.
Sen. Kevin Cooke (R-Carrollton) said he hopes people will continue to shop online at small, local businesses. He is currently feeling fine but in self-isolation after being exposed to COVID-19 in legislation.
“They ask ‘when will I be able to give you a hug again?’ It’s difficult,” said Cooke. “I hate it.”
While Payne isn’t facing those kind of questions, he did say his family decided not to have a birthday celebration for their first grandchild, who will turn one later this month.
“We have to take the good with the bad,” he said “We just need to keep moving in the right direction until we get were we need to be.”
Reassuring the public
Both have given Governor Brian Kemp a voice of support and praise in the state’s handling of the Corona virus pandemic.
“It’s unprecedented and we’ve never seen this situation before,” said Cooke. “I commend our President (Donald Trump) and in particular our governor for keeping Georgia and it’s residents safe while at the same time maintain freedom and liberty of the individual.”
Payne agreed. “It’s amazing how the state and local government and everyone is
Rep. Chuck Payne (R-Dalton) holds his first grandson, Jonah, during session, last year. He said while they will not celebrate the baby’s first birthday, he is feeling confident that Georgia is headed in the right direction with COVID-19.
operating on the fly. It’s brand new to us. No one has been through it but we’re working together.”
“The action (Kemp) and the legislature is taking is helping slow down the curve. It’s been dramatic,” said Cooke.
Payne said the private sector is also taking the initiative to keep their employees and the public safe.
“People have taken action on their own so we don’t have to step in,” said Payne. “They are doing that for themselves.”
Cooke said officials are working to find a balance and try to curb panic.
“There is a lot of misinformation,” said Payne.
Impact on business
Both lawmakers stressed the importance of continuing to shop, online, especially with the smaller, local businesses.
“Small businesses are being hit the hardest,” said Cooke, encouraging people to order online.
Keeping the faith
Payne said history has been a great benefactor in this situation.
“We can look back and see why the Greatest Generation was called that. They were just coming out of a tremendous financial depression when they were hit with a massive war, but they never asked what was in it for them. That’s what made them great and that’s what we can do. We can serve others and become good neighbors again,” said Payne.
“When the President Trump called for a day of prayer for our nation, I thought it was a great step. That’s the best step moving forward, asking the almighty God to watch over our state and country,” said Cooke.
Payne likens the pandemic and the new restrictions to the 25-mile road marches he would do four times a year while serving with the 82nd Airborne.
“We’d parachute in, grab our gear and guns and march 25-miles back,” he recalled. “The first 15-miles were easy. We’d talk and joke around, keeping our eyes on the horizon.
“After that, it would get quiet and the last five miles were the hardest. We’d have quarter-size blisters on our feet and no one would look at the horizon. They were focusing on the ground in front of them, the next three feet.
“That’s what we have to do, focus on the next three feet on what we can control and trust God with the rest of it. We’ll get there.”
Read about Trumps COVID-19 guidelines, here.
See how local small businesses are supporting each other. Read our coverage here.
Cooke announces 14th Congressional run
Election, Politics February 24, 2020Today Kevin Cooke, the current State Representative in Georgia’s 18th district, announced his candidacy for Congress.
“Representing the people of Haralson and Carroll counties in Atlanta has been an honor, but the last nine years have not always been easy. Being in the majority taught me that political party alone is not an accurate way to measure a person’s principles and beliefs in limited government.
It’s easy to stand up to the radical left and their liberal agenda, any establishment politician can do it. The question is who do you trust to stand up to big government Republicans behind closed doors in Washington? Contrary to popular belief, a giant wave of socialism is not the biggest threat facing our nation, but rather it is the slow drift away from our Constitution allowed for decades by BOTH parties that stands to destroy our country.
Choosing a candidate based on rhetoric is dangerous and conservatives fall for it every cycle.
This is a Republican primary in Georgia. We will all say we want to stop socialism, support our President, protect life, defend the second amendment and build the wall.
Talk is cheap.
It’s no longer enough to send ‘conservatives’ to Washington, we need proven principled conservatives.
For nearly a decade, I have faithfully stood up for our Georgia values in the state house and I am running on my record, not from it.
My name is Kevin Cooke. I am a Christian, a husband, a father, a farmer, a small businessman, and a State Representative. I believe in limiting government, protecting freedom, cutting spending and upholding our Constitution and unlike my opponents, I can prove it. I ask for your vote for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.”