ATLANTA – State Representative Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia) calls on the Georgia Department of Labor to cease its operations of garnishing the tax refunds of individuals who have ongoing appeals regarding overpayment of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits.
“Every citizen of Georgia is guaranteed ‘due process,’” said Rep. Anderson. “Many constituents in my district, as well as neighboring areas, have reached out to me and others regarding their state income tax refunds being garnished, while their properly filed appeals have not been resolved and in some cases even acknowledged by the Georgia Department of Labor. My concern is less about whether or not someone was incorrectly paid benefits but more about the automatic presumption of guilt.”
On Friday, March 18, Rep. Anderson took to the well of the House of Representatives during a morning order to call on the labor commissioner to cease this procedure for unresolved appeals. During his morning order, he shared about the individuals who were contacted by the labor department last spring informing them that they may not have qualified for UI payments that were previously approved and paid by the department during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also addressed concerns that the appeals have not been resolved in a timely manner.
Rep. Anderson, along with more than 30 state legislators, submitted a formal letter to the state labor commissioner requesting that the department immediately cease garnishing tax refunds for these individuals until a final resolution is adjudicated. He also requested to have these garnished funds immediately refunded to any individual with an open, unresolved appeal. Rep. Anderson seeks to work with the labor department to resolve this procedural issue.
Representative Victor Anderson represents the citizens of District 10, which includes portions of Habersham and White counties. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2020 and currently serves on the Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications, Governmental Affairs and State Planning & Community Affairs committees.
###