---
type: "Bill"
title: "Employment security; modify definition of the term most recent employer; change certain provisions"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 8 of Title 34 of the O.C.G.A., relating to employment security, so as to change certain provisions relating to employment security; to modify the definition of the term \"most recent employer\"; to amend Code Section 50-36-1 of the O.C.G.A., relating to requirements, procedures, and conditions for verification of lawful presence within the United States, exceptions, regulations, and criminal and other penalties for violations, so as to provide a method for such verification of lawful presence that may be utilized in conjunction with the electronic filing of an application for unemployment insurance with the Department of Labor; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2015_16"
identifier: "HB 117"
citation: "Georgia HB 117 (2015_16)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barry Fleming", "Brian Strickland", "Bruce Broadrick", "Jimmy Pruett", "Mark Hamilton", "Tom Kirby"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 17
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2015-01-27"
last_action: "2015-05-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dd69f417-c64b-4700-b9c9-a41b0567ee08"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "9a6c00dbffaf7211b1c43f09bcbcf05a8e6c3784e40eacb3194c94c7e4d86337"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 117 (2015_16) — Employment security; modify definition of the term most recent employer; change certain provisions

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 8 of Title 34 of the O.C.G.A., relating to employment security, so as to change certain provisions relating to employment security; to modify the definition of the term "most recent employer"; to amend Code Section 50-36-1 of the O.C.G.A., relating to requirements, procedures, and conditions for verification of lawful presence within the United States, exceptions, regulations, and criminal and other penalties for violations, so as to provide a method for such verification of lawful presence that may be utilized in conjunction with the electronic filing of an application for unemployment insurance with the Department of Labor; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB 117/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/153891.pdf)
2. **LC 36 2662ER/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/145974.pdf)
3. **Sen ctee sub LC 37 1996ERS** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/151696.pdf)
4. **Sen fl amend 1 AM 36 0523** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/153232.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **159–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Barry Fleming — primary (person)
- Brian Strickland — primary (person)
- Bruce Broadrick — primary (person)
- Jimmy Pruett — primary (person)
- Mark Hamilton — primary (person)
- Tom Kirby — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2015-01-27** House Hopper
- **2015-01-28** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2015-01-29** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2015-02-09** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2015-02-19** House Postponed
- **2015-02-20** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2015-02-20** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2015-02-23** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2015-03-20** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2015-03-23** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2015-03-31** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2015-03-31** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2015-04-02** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2015-04-09** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2015-05-06** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2015-05-06** Act 113 `executive-signature`
- **2015-05-06** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/dd69f417-c64b-4700-b9c9-a41b0567ee08`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).