Committee endorses bill to reduce Georgia's unemployment benefits

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By Christopher Quinn

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The payment of state unemployment benefits would drop from 26 weeks to a sliding scale of 12 to 20 weeks under a bill approved Tuesday by the state Senate Insurance and Labor Committee.

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Senator Fran Millar has sponsored a bill that would shrink Georgia unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to a sliding scale of 12 to 20 weeks.

Jason Getz, jgetz@ajc.com Senator Fran Millar has sponsored a bill that would shrink Georgia unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to a sliding scale of 12 to 20 weeks.

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Senate Bill 447 would also delay distributing the first unemployment check by a week.

Supporters of the bill say the money saved and money raised by increasing unemployment insurance would pay about $736 million that the state owes the federal government for money it borrowed to pay unemployment benefits. The payoff could encourage companies to hire because they are facing extra federal charges per employee until the bill is paid.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody, estimated that Georgia could pay off the debt and rebuild the unemployment fund to $1 billion by 2014.

Opponents of the bill question the wisdom of cutting unemployment benefits in the worst economy in a generation and pointed out that companies have been given billions of dollars in tax cuts, including an unemployment tax holiday from 2000 to 2003. Now, the bill's supporters want to balance the tally on Georgians' backs, they said.

"It's a vote that promises misery for Georgia families," said Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta.

Millar said it is not easy -- but is necessary -- to make the cuts.

The bill must pass out of the Senate Rules Committee before it can be debated on the floor. If it wins approval there, it would move to the state House for consideration.