Labor commissioner seeks staff increases and capital funding as UI trust fund lags target
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Summary
The Department of Labor requested funding for new collection agents, customer-service representatives and auditors to bolster unemployment insurance enforcement and service delivery, and proposed $6.7 million in capital funding for a downtown Atlanta facility. Commissioner Barbara Bear Holmes said the UI trust fund balance remains below federal solvency guidance.
Labor Commissioner Barbara Bear Holmes told the General Government Appropriations Subcommittee the Department of Labor is pursuing a broad modernization of unemployment insurance technology and operations and requested targeted funding in the FY27 budget to support that work.
Holmes asked for $1,642,557 to fund 20 collection agents, saying the positions are projected to generate about $11.3 million in recovered payments, penalties and interest; she argued the additional staff would produce a measurable return on investment. The department also requested $1,059,178 to fund 15 customer-service representatives to address high call volumes and roughly $1,100,583 to add 12 financial auditors to meet federal audit thresholds.
The commissioner described the call center as receiving about 14,000 calls per week with an abandonment rate above 30% and said average calls last roughly five minutes. She said the UI modernization—replacing legacy systems from the 1980s—will begin migration late in the year and is expected to temporarily increase call volumes when users adapt to the new platform.
Holmes also detailed a $6.7 million capital request to demolish and rebuild a structurally compromised parking deck and warehouse building that houses elements of the Atlanta Career Center and the department’s data center. The work is estimated to take about 18 months once started.
On solvency, Holmes said the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance stood at about $1.99 billion at the end of calendar 2025, roughly $1.5 billion below the U.S. Department of Labor's calculated $3.5 billion solvency threshold; she said averages fluctuate monthly and emphasized continued collaboration with the governor's office and legislature on long-term solutions.
Committee members asked about pandemic-era fraud recovery and how the department will recruit additional staff. Holmes said the department continues to work with the inspector general’s office on fraud cases and cited internal HR and statewide hiring resources to fill positions.
What's next: The committee heard the presentation and asked follow-up questions; departmental staff offered to supply contact information and resources for legislators to provide constituents.