Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed a measure that would have weakened the state labor commissioner by creating a new post tasked with prodding the department to speed up processing unemployment benefit requests from jobless Georgians.
Under Senate Bill 156, the General Assembly would have tapped a chief labor officer charged with filing regular reports to legislative leaders about financial audits and pending unemployment claims in the labor department.
The measure, which narrowly passed the Legislature, was promoted by frustrated lawmakers facing a barrage of complaints from unemployed Georgians who haven’t received their benefits. It was a direct shot at Labor Commissioner Mark Butler, a three-term Republican under fire for his response to the crisis.
In a veto statement, Kemp said he understands the frustration over the backlog in jobless claims, but that he issued his sole veto of the legislative session because the measure proposes “serious infringements on the separation of powers” guaranteed by the state Constitution.
Instead, the governor urged lawmakers to help the agency better handle the unemployment claims and prodded Butler to “do more to match employers with job seekers and make policy decisions that encourage more Georgians to return to the workforce.”
On a related note, Kemp’s office indicated he could soon join other Republican governors who have canceled the extra $300 in weekly payments that millions of Americans receive on top of their unemployment checks. His spokeswoman said he and Butler met Monday and “agreed changes are needed in order to support employers who continue to see worker shortages.”
Butler aggressively fought the legislation to create a new “chief labor officer,” which he warned would add another layer of bureaucracy at the department. He also said it could hamper the response to the unprecedented number of claims prompted by the pandemic.
The glut of unfilled claims has become a key issue in the 2022 race for the statewide post. Republican state Sen. Bruce Thompson, along with several Democrats running for the job, have each vowed to speedily respond to needy Georgians if they’re elected.
The first-term Republican hasn’t been shy about using the red pen, nixing 14 measures in 2019 and an additional four last year. But this year, he only scuttled one piece of legislation, and there was little drama over whether he would sign most of the attention-grabbing measures.
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