Fifty-one Georgia State Senators, both Democratic and Republican, sent a letter this week to Georgia Secretary of State Mark Butler urging him to share his plans for reopening the network of 41 local labor department offices, called career centers, that have been closed since the pandemic began.

The letter, signed by all but four senators, comes on the heels of an audit from the Department of Administrative Services criticizing the labor department for purchasing $1.1 million in free meals for department employees every day from March 2020 through this summer. Labor officials defended it as a way to protect workers and keep them “laser focused” on their jobs, but Sen. Sally Harrell (D-Atlanta), sees a failure to adapt.

“The rest of Georgia, the government as well as private businesses, they have figured out how to open up safety and function. The Department of Labor has yet to figure that out,” Harrell said.

AJC