Georgia Department of Labor
Suite 642 148 International Boulevard N.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30303-1751 (404)656-3032

January 5, 1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

POYTHRESS PROPOSES $100 MILLION TAX CUT

ATLANTA -- State Labor Commissioner David Poythress today unveiled a 1998 legislative agenda highlighted by proposals for a $100 million business tax cut aimed at combating workplace drug abuse, a new initiative to help collect child support from "dead-beat dads" and improved benefits for veterans and those actively looking for a job.

Poythress is calling for the business payroll tax that funds the unemployment insurance program to be cut by about $16 per employee this year for those businesses that have implemented drug-free workplace programs.

"This is the first time any state in the nation has considered unemployment tax credits to encourage the private sector business community to go drug free," said Poythress, while noting that Georgia law already allows a reduction in workers' compensation premiums for employers who have drug-free workplace programs that meet basic requirements.

Poythress will also recommend to the General Assembly a $20 increase in the maximum weekly benefit paid to workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and who are actively seeking a new job. The present maximum is $224. Poythress recently approved new regulations guaranteeing that anyone fired for using illegal drugs will lose all benefits.

This is the fourth year that Poythress has engineered major tax cuts to the state's unemployment insurance program and the fourth benefit increase. The total tax cuts add up to $140 million. The total amount of the new benefit increase is estimated at $20 million.

"Georgia's economy is very strong, said Poythress. "Employment is at an all-time high and unemployment is the lowest it's been in 24 years. "Now is the time to take some of the tax burden off the back of our business community, while encouraging them to join the fight against the corrosive effects of drugs in our society."

The labor commissioner said the state's unemployment insurance program is "one of the strongest in the country," and he said the tax cut combined with the benefit increase is a "fiscally prudent move that will not affect the solvency of our system in any way.

"We will never control crime in our society until we control drugs," said Poythress. "To win that fight, we must engage illegal drugs on all fronts. It's not just a law enforcement problem. Everyone -- parents, elected officials, school teachers and the private business sector -- must join this fight."

POYTHRESS PROPOSES TAX CUT- ADD ONE

Research indicates that 70 percent of habitual drug users work regularly, according to Poythress. "They are not all down and out. Most of them still have the capacity to make the right choice and give up drugs. But, until they are required to make that choice by being in a drug-free workplace they will try to have it both ways. They will try to work and use drugs at the same time; they will continue to endanger co-workers and undermine their employer by causing accidents, absenteeism, low productivity and lost profits. And, they will eventually destroy themselves and their families. Forcing drug users to face the consequences of their own behavior -- requiring them to give up drugs or lose their jobs - makes sense. It protects the employer and co-workers, it puts the drug user and his family on the road to rehabilitation, and ultimately it means less and less drug use in our state.

"Now is the time for government and private business to work together to get drugs out of the workplace in Georgia and begin to build a drug-free business culture in our state. This is the first step in my four-year strategy to drive illegal drugs and drug dealers out of our places of business, out of our schools, off our streets, and out of Georgia," he said.

The commissioner will also recommend a technical change that will allow his department to withhold unemployment benefits from "dead-beat dads" from other states and to turn the money over to the court that ordered the payment of child support.

Poythress' final recommendation is that veterans receiving employment and training assistance be given priority status, no matter which state agency provides the services. Poythress, a veteran of the Vietnam war, said his bill will protect veterans' employment and training rights, no matter how state government may be reorganized in the future.

NEWS MEDIA NEEDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, AN INTERVIEW, OR A RADIO ACTUALITY FROM COMMISSIONER POYTHRESS SHOULD CALL THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS AT (404) 656-3032.

E-mail: communications@dol.state.ga.us.

FY-98-286

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