Doug Jones: People need to plan for coronavirus economic downturn; Expect decline in tax revenue statewide

Although the total impact of the coronavirus outbreak is yet to be realized, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) is urging his constituents to be prepared for whatever economic fallout may be to come as a result.

In an interview with Huntsville radio’s WVNN, Jones indicated the economy in a downturn was a foregone conclusion.

Jones noted the impact on stocks and predicted the problems would extend beyond international boundaries to be felt globally.

“We are in an economic downturn,” Jones said. “The thing people have to understand is we have to be very candid with the American public. We are in an economic downturn. The stock market is down 20% or more from its high of a month ago. We hopefully are going to stabilize some things, but we are in a downturn that is going to have some financial impact that is going to last past when this virus gets subsided. But we can deal with all that. You know, we’re going to have to deal with it in Congress. We’re going to have to make sure we do the things necessary to keep the economy strong and vibrant. I don’t know what that means right now.”

“But yeah — I think people need to be planning on the fact that we’re going to have a downturn,” he continued. “And we’ll continue to see that not only in this country but globally. Look at what’s happening in Europe right now — countries are just literally shutting down. That’s not only going to impact businesses. It’s going to impact tax revenue.”

Jones also said he anticipated Alabama’s municipalities to take a hit as sale tax revenue is expected to wane because of various factors. However, he urged listeners to not be frustrated or angry regarding the situation.

“I’ve been calling some of the mayors in Alabama recently, and a couple of mayors — Walt Maddox,” he said. “One of the turns they got — with the University of Alabama sending everybody home — guess what? That means sales tax collections are going to be way down for the city of Tuscaloosa. So they are going to have to readjust and deal with it. It is going to require an adjustment on everybody’s part.”

“Don’t get frustrated,” Jones continued. “Don’t get angry. This is something we can all get through this together. But we all have to chip in, and we all have to start taking care of each other in making sure this is about us as a whole, and not just yourselves or whatever. We’ve got to make sure we take care of everybody.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.