2009 Georgia Employer Committee Washington Trip Recap
This year’s Georgia Employer Committee Executive Board legislative trip was a very fast paced trip. Seven of our Executive Board members made the trip this year including one of our newest Board members, Cindy Burns. It was a busy trip in that our seven board members made 14 scheduled appointments in a very narrow time frame.
The trip began with a legislative breakfast meeting in which several issues and bills were discussed and reviewed. For a list of the legislative issues that were discussed, please contact our Georgia Employer Committee Coordinator, Vickie Henson at vickie.henson@dol.state.ga.us.
Members of Congress commended our board members for their efforts in keeping the Georgia Employer Committees active and still in existence. They shared the importance of having business and government work together to solve workforce issues.
Some of our Georgia Representative’s schedules unfortunately did not allow them to meet with our Board Members however they did meet with the representative’s labor legislative assistants. The legislative assistants for the most part were receptive of the issues and attentive. Representative’s aides vowed to share the information with their respective Congressmen.
The board members did meet with the following Georgia Representatives:
Senator Johnny Isakson, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, Rep. John Barrrow, Rep. Paul Broun and Rep. Jim Marshall. As mentioned above legislative aides covered the other scheduled meetings. A couple of our Georgia Representatives were taking part in subcommittee hearings on the Stimulus Bill and the recent peanut butter issue hearings.
Although there is never a guarantee that legislation on the issues discussed will be passed, the trip offers the opportunity to share with our Georgia representatives in Washington issues and concerns of proposed legislation and the affect that the legislation would have on Georgia employers.
Our representatives in Washington acknowledged the fact that the partnership that exists between our Georgia Department of Labor and our Employer Committees in Georgia is vital to the future workforce in Georgia and indeed is something to be proud of.
The trip also affords our Georgia representatives a network of hands on employers who can be used as resources when needing feedback or assistance from businesses in their local districts.
We have already received three requests from various offices on information pertaining to our Georgia Employer Committees.
In closing, I would like to thank our Georgia Employer Committee Executive Board members who took the time out of their busy schedules to go to Washington and share the concerns of Georgia employers with our Georgia delegation.
And last but not least the opportunity to share the benefits and existence of our Georgia Employer Committees that we are so proud of!
Click thumbnail images below to view larger image
