- Collection:
- Georgia Government Publications
- Serial:
- Press release.
- Title:
- Press release [Sept. 28, 2004A]
- Creator:
- Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Contributor to Resource:
- Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Date of Original:
- 2004-09-28
- Subject:
- Georgia
- Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
- Medium:
- publications (documents)
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- Open access; Unrestricted online access star GAGAL
July 29, 2002B; title from Georgia Government Publications citation, viewed September 19, 2007. - External Identifiers:
- Call Number GA L412 .P1 P7 2004/9-28A
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2004-s9-h28a-belec-p-btext
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2004-s9-h28a-belec-p-btext
- Language:
- eng
- Holding Institution:
- University of Georgia. Map and Government Information Library
- Rights:
-
House Information Office Room 505, Legislative Office Building
Atlanta, Georgia 30334 404-656-5082 1-800-282-5800
10-2099-5257 For Immediate Release:
September 28, 2004
House Lawmakers Put Whistle Blower Issues on Front Burner
Greater Protections Sought for Those Willing to Come Forward
AtlantaMembers of the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from several interested parties recently on four pieces of "whistle blower" legislation that saw action in the 2004 session of the General Assembly. Sponsors plan to reintroduce the bills in some form for the 2005 session that begins January 10th. All the measures provide greater protections to those employees willing to come forward and expose corruption and waste of their employer. Current Georgia law only provides protections for a limited amount of state employees in the executive branch.
Proponents such as Common Cause, Georgia Association of Educators and others claimed more protection needs to be provided to ensure whistle blowers can make their case without fear of reprisal. A representative from the Governor's Office of the Inspector General, who is also in favor of the proposals, said that employees do not have protection from an employer's retaliation during the investigation process but only when the matter has gone to court.
Others however, specifically in public education, spoke of a more measured approach and said administrative procedures are already in place in many school systems to protect employees from retaliation. They also said legislation changing Georgia's law might hurt employee/ employer relations and affect the budgets of school systems in these tight economic times.
"More protections are needed in the state of Georgia for those courageous employees who go out on a limb," said Representative Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), Chair of the House Judiciary Committee and sponsor of whistle blower legislation. "Existing state law is too weak to protect those who see fraud and corruption."
The committee will meet throughout the fall to determine what legislation will be introduced for the upcoming session.
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For further information, contact Rep. Oliver @ 404-656-5125.