ATLANTA - Georgia's agriculture commissioner says his department will soon begin to look into whether Georgia can legally start its own guest worker program.
Commissioner Gary Black says his department plans to talk to officials in Utah, where the governor has signed a bill that would create a state guest worker program.
A comprehensive immigration bill that passed the Legislature last week would require Black's department to study the impact of immigration on Georgia's agriculture industry. The study would also examine problems with a federal guest worker program - which the law calls "cumbersome and flawed" - which allows the agriculture industry to bring in seasonal workers.
The department would have to send the report to state lawmakers and the governor by Jan. 1.