To read all of InsiderAdvantage Georgia’s daily news, SUBSCRIBE HERE. *Subscription includes a complimentary subscription to JAMES Magazine.
(Editor’s note: This is one of a series of articles in the months to come on candidates for statewide office.)
The race for Georgia Labor Commissioner has drawn at least two Democrats who currently serve in the Georgia General Assembly. Representative William Boddie, from College Park, says he running for the seat “because it is time for a change in leadership.” State Senator Lester Jackson (a Democrat from Savannah) is also in the race.
Rep. William Boddie
Senator Bruce Thompson (R-White) is the only announced Republican candidate in the race currently held by Republican Mark Butler – who has not said if he will seek re-election.
“After I saw how much Georgians in need struggled due to the slow response from the Georgia Department of Labor, I decided that a change was needed,” says Boddie, on his campaign website. “The COVID-19 Pandemic exposed that the Georgia Department of Labor’s technology is antiquated and the Department is unable to support our Georgia Workers in need, who lost their jobs due to no fault of their own. Georgians deserve a Labor Commissioner who puts the needs of Georgia Workers first.”
Boddie, who has served in the state legislature for three terms, says his first step in putting Georgians first will be to modernize and convert the department’s website and technological infrastructure to a completely web-based system. He claims these upgrades will speed up processing unemployment insurance claims “so that all eligible claims can be paid in a timely manner and allow for appeals for unemployment insurance claims to be reviewed more efficiently.”
His campaign website states that Boddie also plans to focus on workforce development through training or retraining programs aimed at helping those who lost their jobs during the pandemic. He also plans to take a closer look at the agency’s Career Centers, with a focus on rural and coastal counties. Currently, there are 42 Careers Centers in Georgia, and Boddie says “that isn’t enough.”
As part of his campaign platform, Boddie says he will create a division within the Georgia Department of Labor to service U.S. Veterans, Disabled Workers, and senior citizen workers’ unique needs.
Boddie serves House District 62, which includes portions of southern Fulton County and eastern Douglas County. He served as the Minority Whip in 2018 after only one term in the General Assembly, and was the second-ranking Democrat in the House. Prior to this, he was appointed to serve as the Communications Chair of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus (GLBC) in 2017.
He currently serves on Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight, Judiciary Non-Civil, Small Business Development, and Special Committee on Access to the Civil Justice System committees. Boddie is a graduate of the Mercer University-Walter F. George School of Law and has been practicing law since 2005.
