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The ADVANCE, January 17, 2024/Page 9A
MORE THAN
A HOSPITAL
V Comprehensive
Health System
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
REVAMPING THE DEPT OF LABOR - Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson
explained to the Legislative Luncheon that the Department of Labor had greatly
changed their structure and processes.
Photo by Makaylee Randolph
IN HIS 8TH YEAR - State Senator Blake Tillery reflected on his 8th year serving in the leg
islature, and explained that he was now one of the most experienced congressmen
in the state,
Luncheon
continued from page 1A
can respond. Sometimes,
we do it well, but we are
equipped to respond - we
don’t get to just go ask for
more money. We certainly
were not equipped for
that.”
The Commissioner
shared that during the
pandemic, the Depart
ment had also not run
their business very effi
ciently, as they provided
seemingly unlimited funds
to several struggling busi
nesses. Thus, he stated that
2023 had to serve as a year
of stabilization, where he
and other Department
leaders had to assess the
challenges and status of
the agency.
“It was kind of like the
military - we had to go in
and make a quick assess
ment of how things are
and make a plan of how to
respond, and then you go
and execute. We sought to
identify the right people to
put in the right place and
then empower them to
make the right decisions,”
Thompson explained.
One type of employee
which Thompson said he
struggled with was indi
viduals who did not help
to solve issues within the
Department, but criti
cized those who did. He
said these employees chal
lenged him, as he had been
told that you could not ter
minate those within a state
agency; however, because
of his background in the
private sector, Thompson
took a new approach to
the issue. “It was tough to
take and do a turnaround
in a state agency. It takes
a strong leadership style,
but then you have to add
in grace and patience,” he
commented.
Some of the other is
sues addressed during
2023 included building
employees confidence to
work efficiently in their
roles and addressing prop
erties throughout the state
which the Department had
neglected. Yet, Thompson
said the biggest issue he
faced was updating proce
dures within the agency.
“The big thing that af
fects you is we had to ad
dress processes - process
es that arguably had not
been touched in around
15 years with a system
that was built in 1972,” the
commissioner explained.
“We had one individual
who was retired that we
had to bring back that un
derstands the code for the
Department of Labor’s
unemployment system,
that can pull the code and
interpret it to give it to the
state auditor - one per
son.”
He added, “Our task
is monumental and we
have to figure out how we
continue to take a unique
strategy to quickly turn
that around.”
Therefore, this up
coming year will bring
these changes into action,
Thompson said. “We’ve
gone through stabilization
in 2023. We’ve made some
of the necessary changes
with people. We have
put training programs in
place; we have done test
ing on every single person
out in the field with com
petency and other things,
and then did training on
those efficiencies. 2024
is the year of execution.
Now that we’ve stabilized
and now that we have the
right people, now we go to
work.”
“Most people think
the Department of Labor
is about unemployment
claims,” he continued. “If
you’re unemployed, you
file a claim; if it’s a legiti
mate claim, you get paid.
We’re arguably one of the
least tenured states when
it comes to benefits, and
we try to get you back to
work. The one thing that
everyone of us are experi
encing in here is a short
age of workforce.”
Yet, even with that
abundance of unem
ployed, Thompson
claimed that filling vacant
positions within the work
force is still a challenge be
cause of the rate of change
within labor. “The chal
lenge is the environment
is radically changing. The
individual that knew one
job may not be equipped
to do the next one. So, we
have to get our schools
where we are addressing
people. You can no longer
go to a high school junior
or senior and start talking
about their future - their
destiny is already set. You
have to get to these indi
viduals at 5th grade and
6th grade to let them know
the environment wants
them, and you start help
ing them with that path
then - that is a change in
mindset,” he remarked.
Some ways in which
businesses must change to
improve the workforce are
improving ways of con
necting veterans with em
ployers and connecting se
nior citizens with available
jobs. “The one thing our
state is lacking is our con
nection to our seniors who
are retiring. In our state in
the next 24 months, we
will have 110,000 retire,”
he told the audience. “Just
because you are retired
does not mean you don’t
want to work. It means, ‘I
don’t want to keep work
ing in that pace in that job.’
So, you create environ
ments where you can con
nect 20-25 hours.”
Another area of need
ed change in which the
Department of Labor is
focusing on this year is
improved employment
opportunities for the for
merly incarcerated. “We
have 15,000 individuals
every year who come out
of the state custody back
into society - it is not fed
eral, and it is not local. We
can brag about ourselves,
and we have a lot of great
things happening in our
state - but I don’t know
that I would brag about us
having a reintegration rate
of 50% back into society,”
Thompson emphasized.
He told the audience that
a combination of a desire
to give grace and second
chances to people, along
with the need for a work
force, should inspire em
ployers to want to capital
ize on the opportunity of
those reintegrating into
civilian life.
He explained that the
Department once had a
program to connect those
leaving incarceration
with employers, but that
program had dissolved.
Thompson said many
within the Department
spent the year interview
ing those who had been
released from prison and
employers within the state
and learned that the larg
est issue that caused the
program’s demise was that
employers were not suited
to have someone who was
incarcerated within their
workforce because those
individuals were accus
tomed to extremely struc
tured environments and
struggled to adapt.
To fix this issue,
Thompson and the De
partment of Labor have
created the Walking the
Last Mile program, a vol
untary 13-week course
that helps those reinte
grating into society to un
derstand how to connect
with others and who they
are so that they may learn
to work efficiently in so
ciety. “Being a felon is not
who they are - it’s a con
sequence of their actions
and what they did,” he em
phasized. The program is
currently in its first cohort,
which will graduate within
the next few months.
Overall, Thompson
discussed the importance
of leadership, as he praised
the work of former State
Senator Tommie Williams,
State Representative Lee-
sa Hagan, and State Sena
tor Blake Tillery. “Leader
ship matters, does it not?
It does. You look around
the room - this great com
munity didn’t just happen.
Georgia’s football team
didn’t just happen,” he told
attendees. “Hats off to you
for having leaders who not
only lead with integrity
and from a Christian view,
but represent you very
well in Atlanta.”
During her address at
the Luncheon, State Rep
resentative Leesa Hagan
gave an overview of sev
eral topics she believed
would be discussed during
the state congress’s session
this year, and spoke to the
audience about a few bills
which she is currently
working on.
One topic which
Hagan said she expects
to discuss during Session
is Certificates of Need.
“If you don’t work in the
healthcare industry, you
may not know what that is,
but in a nutshell, there is a
regulatory board in Atlan
ta that determines whether
or not certain healthcare
services or providers can
begin certain healthcare
projects, services, build
ing projects, expansion
projects, etc. - they can
not do that without get
ting a certificate of need,”
she explained. “Critics
argue that process limits
competition and innova
tion, but proponents of it
believe that it is important
because it is necessary for
maintaining a balance in
efficient healthcare system
and for maintaining rural
hospitals.”
Hagan has extensively
studied the topic, as her
district includes two ru
ral hospitals - Memorial
Health Meadows Hospital
in Vidalia and Dorminy
Medical Center in Ben
Hill County. She stated
that both houses of the
state congress had study
committees - in which
she served in the House
committee and Memorial
Health Meadows Hospi
tal CEO Matt Hasbrouck
served in the senate com
mittee - over the past
summer to learn more
about the topic.
“We’ve talked with
and heard from dozens of
interests and stakeholders
in the healthcare industry
and heard their testimo
nies. I think that we are
going to see a lot of pas
sionate debate and discus
sion over this issue within
the two houses and in the
assembly,” she assured.
Another topic which
Hagan believes will be dis
cussed during the Session
is the legalization of gam
bling - specifically, sports
betting. “It’s an issue that
comes up each year be
cause the proponents say
they want it in order to get
that tax revenue and spend
it,” she remarked.
Hagan continued,
“I’m opposed to legaliz
ing sports betting, not be
cause I care if an individual
wants to do that with their
time and their money -
I’m opposed to it because
the industry targets young
people. The reason it does
is that we know the sci
ence behind brain devel
opment - a human’s brain
is not fully developed until
they are between 20 and
25 years old. For females,
it is younger; for males,
it is closer to that 25-year
mark. The science tells us
that if a habitual behavior
or addiction is going to
happen in a person’s life,
it’s typically going to begin
when they are young.”
She emphasized the
need for this habitual be
havior for the industry to
profit off of this legaliza
tion. “The sports betting
industry doesn’t make
money off of people who
are casual betters - [those]
who make a couple times
a year on a couple differ
ent games and move on
with [their] lives. 60% of
the profit from that indus
try come from only 5% of
the users of those apps.
So, no matter the inten
tions of those that bring
these bills, I feel like it is
dangerous because you are
targeting young people. If
you don’t have people ha
bitually betting, you don’t
make the money in that
industry.”
“As a mom, but also
as a person that does not
want to see people used,
I feel like it is something
that we do not need to le
galize,” she added before
encouraging those who
feel differently to speak
with her on the issue.
Workforce develop
ment is expected to be
a hot topic within the
congressional session, ac
cording to Hagan. “You’re
going to see multiple bills
that come out of mul
tiple committees that
have an aim of improving
our workforce situation
within the state,” she ex
plained. “There is not part
of the state - there is not
an industry within this
state - that is not short of
workers. We are short of
qualified, educated work
ers - that is a topic that is
discussed at every meeting
that I’m in. Every study
committee talks about it.”
Some of the legisla
tion and ideas expected
to be discussed involving
work development in
clude the improvement of
the licensing process and
the process of connecting
graduating high school
students with postsec
ondary institutions. She
highlighted the Georgia
Match Program, which be
gan in October and send
over 120,000 high school
seniors within the state a
letter detailing several uni
versities and technical col
leges in which they had al
ready received acceptance,
so they may know their
options.
“I think that that’s go
ing to go a long way to get
people plugged in while
they’re young to the places
they best fit,’ Hagan com
mented.
She also emphasized
the importance of encour
aging students to enter the
technical college system
within the state. “For too
long, I think we have let
our technical college sys
tem as being looked at as
the second choice, but it
really needs to be the first
choice if we are taking
about filling roles that are
in high demand because
those are the jobs that
they are having the hard
est time finding jobs for
and that we need to fill the
quickest,” Hagan said.
As for bills which she
is currently working on,
Hagan told attendees that
she will be helping to draft
legislation that addresses
a variety of topics, such as
the reintegration of the in
carcerated into the work
force and more transpor
tation options for cottage
food retailers.
Another bill which
she is helping to draft is
the legalization of the col
or blaze pink for hunting
safety gear, which she said
was inspired by a young
constituent within the
state who did not like blaze
orange and researched to
find other states allowed
the bright pink to be used
in place of orange. Hagan
said that she believes
this change will encour
age more women to hunt
and will alleviate farmers’
struggle with the overpop
ulation of deer within the
state.
Senator Blake Til
lery began his address by
reflecting on his 8 years
within the legislature and
5 years chairing the Senate
Appropriations Commit
tee, which he said classi
fies him as one of the most
experienced members of
the congress, as the aver
age tenure for state con
gressmen is 6.8 years. “It’s
hard to believe you have
allowed me this long to
represent you in Atlanta -
thank you,” he remarked.
Tillery emphasized
that there is never a way
to truly know what will be
discussed during the ses
sion. “Usually, whatever
happens on Day 39 or 40
is definitely different than
what you think it’s going
to be on Day 17,’ he com
mented.
Yet, the Senator stated
that he believes the major
ity of what the state will
handle during session
will come from issues of
growth and inflation.
According to Tillery,
Please see Luncheon
page 11A