Syfert Injury Law Firm

Your Trusted Partner in Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation

Call Now: 904-383-7448
O.C.G.A. § 34-8-70 — Duties and powers of Commissioner | Georgia Code
O.C.G.A. § 34-8-70 (2018) Copy Cite Official Site Syfertize CourtListener Scholar Amendments

TITLE 34 LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Section 8. Employment Security, 34-8-1 through 34-8-280.

ARTICLE 3 ADMINISTRATION

34-8-70. Duties and powers of Commissioner.

  1. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to administer this chapter.
  2. The Commissioner shall have power and authority to adopt, amend, or rescind such rules and regulations and to employ such persons, make such expenditures, require such reports, make such investigations, and take such other action as deemed necessary or suitable to that end, and such rules and regulations shall be effective upon publication in the manner, not inconsistent with this chapter, which the Commissioner shall prescribe.
  3. The Commissioner shall determine methods of organization and procedure in accordance with this chapter and shall have an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed.
  4. Not later than February 1 of each year, the Commissioner shall submit to the Governor a report covering the administration and operation of this chapter during the preceding fiscal year and shall make such recommendations for amendments to this chapter as deemed proper. Such report shall include a balance sheet of the moneys in the fund in which there shall be provided, if possible, a reserve against the liability in the future years to pay benefits in excess of the then current contributions, which reserve shall be established by the Commissioner in accordance with accepted actuarial principles on the basis of statistics regarding employment, business activity, and other relevant factors for the longest possible period.
  5. Whenever the Commissioner believes that a change in contribution or benefit rates will become necessary to protect the solvency of the fund, the Commissioner shall promptly so inform the Governor and the General Assembly and make recommendations with respect thereto.
  6. The Commissioner shall fully cooperate with the agencies of other states and shall make every proper effort to oppose and prevent any further action which would in the Commissioner's judgment tend to effect complete or substantial federalization of state unemployment compensation funds or state employment security programs. In addition, the Commissioner may make and may cooperate with other appropriate agencies in making studies as to the practicality and probable cost of possible new state administered social security programs and the relative desirability of state, rather than federal, action in any such field.
  7. The Commissioner is authorized to enter into such cooperative agreements or contracts with appropriate officials in other states or with the United States secretary of labor for the purpose of the reciprocal collection of overpayments or delinquent contributions, penalties, interest, and costs or for such other purposes as reasonably relate to the discharge of the Commissioner's responsibilities under this chapter.
  8. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Commissioner may recover an overpayment of benefits paid to any individual under this state or another state's unemployment benefit law or under an unemployment benefit program of the United States.

(Code 1981, §34-8-70, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 139, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 34.)

Cross references.

- Additional compensation of Commissioner for administering chapter, § 45-7-4(a)(9).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under Ga. L. 1937, p. 806 are included in the annotations for this Code section.

Rulemaking.

- Under the Administrative Procedure Act the adoption of "[r]ules relating to . . . benefits by the state or of an agency" is expressly exempted by O.C.G.A. § 50-13-2(6)(I) from the strict rulemaking procedural requirements of O.C.G.A. § 50-13-4. This includes the promulgation of policies determining eligibility for entitlement and rules for granting unemployment benefits. Caldwell v. Amoco Fabrics Co., 165 Ga. App. 674, 302 S.E.2d 596 (1983) (decided under Ga. L. 1937, p. 806).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 63C Am. Jur. 2d, Public Officers and Employees, §§ 8, 241 et seq. 76 Am. Jur. 2d, Unemployment Compensation, § 7.

C.J.S.

- 73 C.J.S., Public Administrative Law and Procedure, § 146 et seq. 81 C.J.S., Social Security and Public Welfare, §§ 285, 286, 288 et seq.

81A C.J.S., Social Security and Public Welfare, § 484 et seq.

Database error: SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 8 attempt to write a readonly database

This Georgia Code resource is curated by an Orange Park personal injury and workers' comp lawyer, a personal injury and workers' compensation attorney admitted in Georgia (State Bar of Georgia No. 881027, since 2006) and Florida. Attorney Syfert regularly works with Title 34 in the context of Georgia workers' compensation and represents clients throughout Northeast Florida and South Georgia. For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.