Peach Tree Times

Georgia representatives are set to vote on a bill that would appoint a labor officer to help manage the increase in unemployment claims filed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SB 156, introduced by Sen. Marty Harbin (R-Tyrone), was passed by the Senate with a 32-18 vote despite concerns that a new chief labor officer position appointed by the governor could usurp the powers of the elected state labor commissioner.

Harbin argued the labor officer will help state employees deal with the increase in claims. A number of Democrats voted for the bill, while several Republicans voted against.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics current population survey (CPS), Georgia's unemployment rate fell 0.2 points in January to 5.1%. The rate was 1.2 percentage points lower than the national rate, and down from a peak of 12.5% in April 2020.

More than $19 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits have been paid nearly 4.5 million Georgians since last March, numbers greater than the previous nine years combined, the state labor department has reported.

SB 156 states that the chief labor officer "will have the power and duty to provide reports on unemployment claims, develop and implement strategies to improve the reliability of the Department of Labor's services, and provide timely reports to any financial audits of the department."

The officer will have concurrent powers to the labor commissioner, but the law creating the new position would be repealed in January 2023. 

Opponents of the measure have raised fears it could set a precedent leading to legislators creating positions to undermine elected officials.

"We have ways of changing how the Department of Labor is run, and we do that every four years in November with an election,” said Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula), according to a report by Capitol Beat. “I feel that this is a dangerous precedent.”

The bill is due for a third reading and vote in the House.