The Senate Regulated Industries Committee gave its approval Tuesday to a bill that the sponsor says will begin to address some of the workforce shortages in the state. Senate Bill 352, sponsored by Sen. Bruce Thompson (R-White), would expedite certain licenses for spouses of firefighters, healthcare providers and law enforcement who relocate to Georgia.
The bill would apply to those spouses who hold a current license in another state as long as the training, experience and testing requirements are similar to those in Georgia. After discussion, the Senate committee accepted an amendment by Sen. John Kennedy that says the person must not be under disciplinary action in another state.
“It’s clear in Georgia that almost every professional sector is struggling for workers,” said Sen. Thompson. “This bill seeks to address that shortage in three of our most vulnerable sectors: healthcare, firefighters and law enforcement. This legislation encourages these professionals to move to Georgia and eases the transition of the relocation by allowing their spouses to go to work immediately.”
“This bill is a first step in addressing the worker crisis that many professions are facing in our state right now.”
Representatives from the Georgia Hospital Association and the Home Builders Association of Georgia testified during the hearing and gave their support to the bill.
So-signers include Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton), Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell), Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) and Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome)
This is one of several bills introduced already this session to address workforce shortages.
Late last week, Sen. Brian Strickland (R-McDonough) introduced SB 379 which would establish a program to promote the creation and expansion of registered apprenticeship programs in Georgia.
As written, the legislation states that the program would be administered through the Office of Workforce Development and would be called the High-demand Career Initiatives Program.
“The purpose of the program is to incentivize small- and medium-sized apprenticeship sponsors to establish new or additional registered apprenticeship programs in Georgia in order to support the growth of apprenticeship programs and expand high-quality work-based learning experiences in high-demand fields and careers for persons in Georgia.”
Participants would be required to be at least 15 years old. A list of the high-demand jobs eligible would be created annually and published on a website.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton), Sen. Bruce Thompson (R-White) Sen. Pro Tem Butch Miller (R-Gainesville) and Sen. Burt Jones (R-Jackson) are among the co-signers.
