Newly unemployed Georgians would have to volunteer service hours or risk losing unemployment benefits, according to a proposal submitted this week by state lawmakers.
Dubbed the "Dignity for the Unemployed Act," the bill would force applicants for state unemployment benefits to perform at least 24 hours of volunteer service a week at a nonprofit charitable organization. The mandate would kick in after the first two weeks of eligibility. The commissioner of the state Labor Department could waive the requirement in cases of hardship.
State Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, has signed on as the bill's chief sponsor, with support from others including Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock.
The bill makes no note of the thousands of Georgians likely to be affected if it passed. The Labor Department announced two weeks ago that holiday hiring helped push the state's unemployment rate down slightly to 10.2 percent in October, from 10.3 percent in September.
October, however, was the 51st consecutive month Georgia exceeded the national unemployment rate, which is currently 9.0 percent. According to the Labor Department, more than 55,800 Georgians filed initial unemployment claims in October.
State lawmakers since Nov. 15 have been allowed to submit proposed laws and resolutions in advance of next year's legislative session, which begins Jan. 9.
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