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Request a DemoLabor commissioner taking stock and making changes, aiming for better experience for Georgians
When Bruce Thompson says he has an open-door policy, he means it. Literally.
The badge-only elevator access to his sixth-floor executive suite in downtown Atlanta is gone, removed shortly after his arrival in January as Georgia labor commissioner.
“We're treating it like any other floor now. The doors are wide open,” Thompson told State Affairs. “If we trust you anywhere in the Department of Labor, then why shouldn't you have access to us?”
It’s a small step that speaks volumes in an agency beset for years with internal strife, financial mismanagement, claims backlog, and a reputation for an arms-length, talk-to-the-hand detachment with the state’s unemployed and those looking for work. The agency is operating in a state with a 3.1% unemployment rate, a rapidly expanding job market [some 17,000 new jobs were added last month alone] and a rapidly changing work environment focused on providing services for tech-savvy millennials and Gen Zers.
The former military vet and Republican state senator took on the herculean task of rebuilding an agency that has far fewer employees and a shadow of the budget it once had. Two years ago, the agency had a $165 million budget. Today, it’s around $65 million, with much of the agency’s duties redirected to other agencies.
But just last week, state senators passed a bill that would essentially provide more money to the agency based on the reinstitution of a rule pertaining to how much new employers contribute to the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.
State Affairs spoke with Thompson about his turnaround plans. The conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q. Why did you want to become labor commissioner given all of the issues and challenges the department is facing?
A. The General Assembly basically asked me to run. There were hundreds of people on both sides of the [political] aisle who endorsed me and said go fix this. I already had a relationship with the executive branch. So I wasn't as concerned about that. But we needed to do more than just have a relationship. We had to show tangible change in how we do business. You're going to see some significant revenue redirected back to us.
Q. What are the top three internal issues or challenges you plan to address?
A. I have bought companies and turned them around. I've also started companies. The first thing you do is assess the people. If you don't have the right people in the right seats making the right decisions, you have a problem.
So as a leader of roughly 1,000 people who are empowered to affect over 11 million people, it's really important to make sure you have your culture right. I have been so pleasantly surprised by how they have responded to my leadership style. It frankly gets me emotional because I now see them laughing and working [past regular work hours]. There’s no overtime in this government. It's comp time. Many of them lose their comp time because they never use it. I don’t ask them to [work late]. They do it on their own because they now see the mission to serve. So culture is a big one. We’re still building it but it’s radically different already.
Number two is facilities. We discovered in Carrollton a $350,000 water damage. The conditions people were working in were beyond awful. So by us going around and inventorying the places people work has been significant because a lot of the culture and the attitude was well, nobody cares. And [they’re thinking] I'm siloed and this is the way it has to be. It doesn't have to be that way. So we're tangibly addressing our facilities.
The third thing is the customer experience has to be different. It's not just the culture of how we engage, but it is the technological approach to how we engage. We have to modernize how we're doing that. If you're static, you will be obsolete. You have to be dynamic, and we're now becoming dynamic.
That 30 and younger crowd grew up with iPhones, software and computers. So we've got to address their limited attention span quickly. Your older crowd in rural areas are not nearly as accustomed to using technology because they've been immersed in agriculture. We have to treat them differently.
in his first 60 days in office, thompson has...
- Reversed a mass exodus. When Thompson arrived, over 100 employees were set to leave “because of the experience they had during the pandemic, as well as the [previous] leadership style,” he said, adding that now many have rescinded their resignations and retirements.
- Made appearances in the field. He has visited six career centers and will have been to the remaining 35 by the end of his first 100 days in office.
- Set in motion efforts to update agency technology. He’s interviewed nearly 30 technology firms to find out “the most modern way to onboard and identify legitimate people and claims. So when someone needs help, how do we quickly identify that they're legitimately entitled, and then disperse the funds as quickly as possible?”
Q. How are the ongoing complaints of delays and people not getting unemployment benefits being addressed?
A. We're running six months behind on appeals. We applied and were given several million dollars in grants that we're waiting to receive to hire several hearing officers to get our claims caught up. Our goal is by August 1, we'd love to be 100% current on our appeals process.
Our new filings are pretty current. I'd like to speed that up but it's within the acceptable range.
Q. What's the status of the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund? Is it solvent?
A. No. It hasn’t been solvent in years. It’s running right now at 53%. I think the last time I saw it, $1.2 billion was in there. It’s going to be really hard for it to become solvent until we modernize because all the fraud is depleting it. There’s very few states that are solvent right now because of what happened with COVID and the fraud. We’re all working with the feds to see if we can’t recover some of this money back into the trust funds. In some states, their General Assembly is frankly putting money in there to get it back solvent. The state we’re in right now, I’m not concerned about that. Obviously, it’s growing. We’re getting more and more money in because as your unemployment is low, you’re not paying out as much and while there’s growth in the business, those businesses are paying in [to the fund].
Q. Have you made any key staff changes?
A. Our chief information officer retired and we’ve changed facilities managers. We’ve got 41 career centers we own or manage that have been neglected over the years. Already, in our first two months, the new manager has inventoried the people and the assets so we can begin to deploy repairs and properly staff for the people so that their experience is not substandard. As we go back to what I said before, treat the people with respect and dignity so their experience is well.
THE BRUCE THOMPSON FILES
- Title: Georgia Department of Labor commissioner
- Age: 58
- Birthplace: California; raised on a farm near Big Sandy, Montana.
- Residence: White, Georgia.
- Education: Attended Montana State University on a wrestling scholarship. Graduated with a business administration degree from Reinhardt University in Waleska.
- Career: Six years in the tank/armored division of the U.S. Army National Guard; founded and ran 18 companies since 1987; member of the Georgia Senate, 2013-2023; elected labor commissioner in November 2022, took office in January 2023.
- Hobbies: Outdoor activities such as fishing and hunting; mentoring small-business owners.
- Family: Wife, Becky; son Max, 17, and daughter Faith, 22.
- What job would you want to be doing if you weren’t in this one: I’d be starting another company.
You can reach Tammy Joyner on Twitter @lvjoyner or at [email protected]. Joyner is State Affairs’ senior investigative reporter in Georgia. A Georgia transplant, she has lived in the Peach State for nearly 30 years.
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House speaker Jon Burns hires new communications director
House speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, announced today that he has hired a new communications director. Kayla Roberson, who has served as press secretary at the Georgia Chamber for the past year or so, will now oversee all external communications, media relations and strategic messaging for Burns.
“I’m excited to welcome Kayla to our team,” Burns said in a statement. “Kayla has an excellent background, deep skill set and strong work ethic, and we’re excited to have her on board to continue getting our message out and sharing the House’s priorities ahead of and into the next session.”
A double major in political science and journalism at the University of Georgia, where she graduated in 2022, Roberson interned for U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican in north Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, and worked as a consultant for GOP political candidates before joining the Georgia Chamber.
“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to work under the leadership of speaker Burns,” Roberson told State Affairs. “Whether it’s improving education opportunities, putting money back in the pockets of hardworking Georgians, creating jobs or supporting our rural communities, speaker Burns always prioritizes doing what is best, and what is right, for Georgia.”
Political strategist Stephen Lawson, who has held the top communications role for the speaker since last December, announced he’s joining Dentons, where starting today he’ll lead the global law firm’s public affairs efforts.
Have questions or comments? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on X @journalistajill or at [email protected].
Global bird flu disrupts Georgia exports, costing chicken producers millions
ATLANTA — A global bird flu that has rapidly spread from birds to dairy cows, milk supplies and humans has cost untold millions of dollars in lost export business in Georgia, the nation’s leading poultry producer, officials with the state Department of Agriculture and poultry industry said.
Georgia has had only three reported cases of H5N1 avian influenza since it reemerged in 2022. The last of those cases was resolved in November 2023 but ramifications of those outbreaks continue to have a big effect on the state’s ability to export chicken and chicken parts, such as chicken feet, to different countries, including China, one of Georgia’s biggest export markets for chicken feet.
In 2022, frozen chicken feet, for example, accounted for more than 85% of all U.S. poultry exported to China, according to Farm Progress, publisher of 22 farming and ranching magazines.
The $30 billion poultry industry is Georgia’s largest segment in its No. 1 industry — agriculture.
China has also placed a ban on the import of chicken products from 41 other American states. The ban on Georgia products went into effect Nov. 21, 2023. Efforts to reach the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. were unsuccessful.
Georgia Poultry Federation President Mike Giles estimates the state’s loss at “well into the millions of dollars.”
“It’s a significant amount in a significant export market for us,” he said. “Poultry paws [feet] immediately lose value because of the loss of demand.”
The ban has forced Georgia poultry producers to find alternative markets for their products that would normally be headed to China.
“Some are sold domestically, some are frozen and stored, hopefully to find markets later on, and some go to other countries,” Giles said.
This isn’t the first time China has banned U.S.-produced poultry products due to a bird flu outbreak. The country instituted a ban in January 2015 which lasted until November 2019 — even though U.S. poultry products were deemed free of the disease by August 2017.
After that ban was lifted, China’s appetite for American-produced chicken products became voracious.
In 2022, U.S. producers shipped nearly $6 billion in poultry meat and related products (excluding eggs) to over 130 countries. China has emerged as the second largest destination for U.S. poultry exports, increasing from $10 million in 2019 to a record $1.1 billion in 2022, according to Southern Ag Today.
Chicken paws, for instance, are eaten in many Asian countries, including the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Korea.They can also be found on Chinese dim sum menus throughout the U.S. and are also popular in Jamaica, Trinidad, Russia and Ukraine in everything from soups and curries to fried snacks.
Three Georgia counties have reported H5N1 outbreaks since 2022. The most recent case was late last year. Henry, Sumter and Toombs counties each reported one case of H5N1 bird flu. Those outbreaks are resolved, poultry and state agriculture officials say.
“When HPAI cases are found in any state, that state is given a designation that could lead to foreign countries halting trade on poultry products from that state,” Georgia Department of Agriculture spokesman Matthew Agvent told State Affairs.
Not since 2016 has the United States experienced such a fast-moving case of the H5N1 avian influenza. In the last two months, the virus has spread in parts of the United States from birds to dairy cows, some milk supplies and humans. Two people — a Texas dairy worker and a prison inmate in Colorado who was killing infected birds at a poultry farm — are reported to have caught the virus, according to news reports. The outbreak is the largest in recent history, impacting both domestic poultry and livestock as well as wild birds and some mammal species.
State officials are continuing to monitor the national outbreak and its impact on Georgia.
Georgia’s poultry & egg industry: At A Glance
Annual economic impact: $30.2 billion
Percentage of the Agriculture industry: 58% *
Jobs: 87,900
Counties involved in poultry & egg production: 3 out of 4
National ranking in chicken broiler production: No. 1
Daily production of table eggs: 7.8 million
Daily production of hatching eggs: 6.5 million
Pounds of chicken produced daily: 30.2 million
Pounds of chicken produced annually: 8 billion
Number of chicken broilers processed each day: 5 million
Counties involved in poultry & egg production: 3 out of 4
Source: Georgia Poultry Federation; The Center for Agribusiness & Economic Development, University of Georgia, Ag Snapshots 2024; Georgia Poultry Federation.
Have questions? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].
Is it safe to eat chicken and eggs and drink milk? Answers to your most pressing questions about the latest bird flu outbreak
A two-year-old strain of bird flu has heightened concerns in Georgia and the rest of the country after the virus recently spread to dairy cows. Here’s what you need to know about the virus and its impact on Georgia and the rest of the country. What are the symptoms of this flu in humans? Eye …
Kemp signs bills on education, health care, taxes
Gov. Brian Kemp signed a slew of bills over the past week or so, including the private school voucher bill long sought by Republicans and a bill that will ease regulations over the construction and expansion of medical facilities in rural areas.
His bill-signing events were clustered into themes: education, health care, military members, human trafficking and Georgia’s coastal communities.
Education
Among the education-related bills Kemp signed was Senate Bill 233, also known as the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, which provides the families of Georgia students enrolled in underperforming school districts with $6,500 scholarships that can be used toward private school or homeschooling expenses, including tuition, fees, textbooks and tutoring.
“Georgia is affording greater choice to families as to how and where they receive their education, while also continuing our efforts to strengthen public schools, support teachers, and secure our classrooms,” Kemp said, and thanked leadership in the House and Senate for prioritizing passage of the bill, which had failed in a close vote in 2023.
Democrats and many public education advocates who opposed the bill argued it will drain resources from public schools and primarily benefit students from wealthy families.
Kemp also signed Senate Bill 351, sponsored by nine Republican senators, which will require social media companies, as of July 1, 2025, to verify their users are at least 16 years old unless they receive approval from a parent.
House Bill 409, sponsored by Rep. Lauren Daniel, R-Locust Grove, directs school systems to consider not having bus stops where a student would have to cross a roadway with a speed limit of 40 mph or greater. The bill also increases the penalty for passing a stopped school bus to $1,000 from $250.
Kemp noted that Ashley Pierce, the mother of Addy Pierce, an 8-year-old who was fatally struck by a motorist as she boarded her school bus, “passionately advocated for and was instrumental in the passage of this legislation.”
Senate Bill 395, sponsored by Sen. Clint Dixon, R-Gwinnett, states that no school visitor or personnel can be prohibited from possessing an opioid reversal drug such as Narcan and directs schools to maintain a supply. It also allows opioid antagonists to be sold in vending machines and directs certain government buildings to maintain a supply of at least three doses.
Senate Bill 464, also sponsored by Dixon, creates the School Supplies for Teachers Program to financially and technically support teachers purchasing school supplies online. It also creates an executive committee of five voting members within the Georgia Council on Literacy and limits the number of approved literacy screeners to five, one of whom must be available to schools for free.
Health care
The governor chose his hometown of Athens as the venue to sign several bills aimed at improving health care in rural and underserved communities.
Among them was House Bill 1339, sponsored by Rep. Butch Parrish, R-Swainsboro, which revises the Certificate of Need process by which the state determines if and how new medical facilities can be built or expanded. The bill provides for several new exemptions, including psychiatric or substance abuse inpatient programs, basic perinatal services in rural counties, birthing centers and new general acute hospitals in rural counties. It also raises the total limit on tax credits for donations to rural hospital organizations to $100 million from $75 million.
Senate Bill 480, sponsored by Sen. Mike Hodges, R-Brunswick, establishes student loan repayments for mental health and substance use professionals serving underserved youth in the state or in unserved geographic areas disproportionately impacted by social determinants of health.
House Bill 872, sponsored by Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville, chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee, expands cancelable loans for certain health care professionals to dental students who agree to practice in rural areas.
Senate Bill 293, sponsored by Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, reorganizes county boards of public health and opens the qualifications for the CEO of each county board of health to include either licensed physicians or people with a master’s degree in public health or a related field.
Military members and veterans
Kemp on Wednesday focused on bills to improve military recruitment and provide more work opportunities for veterans and military family members.
House Bill 880, sponsored by Rep. Bethany Ballard, R-Warner Robins, allows spouses of military service members to work under a license they hold in good standing in another state while under the supervision of an existing Georgia medical facility or provider.
Senate Bill 449, sponsored by Sen. Larry Walker, allows military medical personnel to practice for 12 months while a license application is pending, including working as a certified nursing aide, certified emergency medical technician, paramedic or licensed practical nurse. The bill also creates a new advanced practice registered nurse license and makes it a misdemeanor to practice advanced nursing without a license.
Human trafficking
The governor on Wednesday was accompanied by first lady Marty Kemp and other members of the GRACE Commission for the signing of an anti-human trafficking package. It includes Senate Bill 370, which adds certain businesses to the list of organizations that must post human trafficking notices, including convenience stores, body art studios, businesses that employ licensed massage therapists and manufacturing facilities.
Sponsored by Sen. Mike Hodges, R-Brunswick, the bill also allows the Georgia Board of Massage Therapy to initiate inspections of massage therapy businesses and educational programs without notice and requires massage therapy board members to complete yearly human trafficking awareness training.
House Bill 993, sponsored by Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, creates the felony offense of grooming of a minor and creates new penalties for offenses relating to visual mediums depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
House Bill 1201, sponsored by Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, allows human trafficking survivors who received first offender or conditional discharge status to vacate that status for certain crimes, as long as the crime was a direct result of being a victim of human trafficking.
Coastal communities
Earlier today in Brunswick, Kemp signed legislation impacting Georgia coastal communities, including House Bill 244, which amends the laws around how wild game can be hunted and how seafood dealers operate, and House Bill 1341, which designates white shrimp as the state’s official crustacean.
Taxes
Earlier this month Kemp signed several bills related to taxation, including House Bill 1015, sponsored by Rep. Lauren McDonald, R-Cumming, which lowers the state income tax for tax year 2024 to 5.39%, accelerating a multiyear drop in state income taxes that started at 5.75% in 2023 and will continue through 2029.
The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget estimates the tax cut acceleration will save Georgia taxpayers approximately $1.1 billion in calendar year 2024 and about $3 billion over the next 10 years.
Kemp also signed House Bill 1021, sponsored by Rep. Lauren Daniel, R-Locust Grove, which increases the state’s income tax dependent exemption to $4,000 from $3,000.
House Bill 581, sponsored by Reps. Shaw Blackmon, R-Bonaire, and Clint Crowe, R-Jackson, enables a constitutional amendment (House Resolution 1022) to let voters decide whether counties can provide a statewide homestead valuation freeze, which limits the increase in property values to the inflation rate.
The governor has until May 7 to sign or veto bills passed during the legislative session that ended on March 28. Those he takes no action on will automatically become law.
Legislation signed by Kemp is posted on the governor’s website.
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Have questions, comments or tips on education in Georgia? Contact Jill Jordan Sieder on X @journalistajill or at [email protected].
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