EX-CONS FLOATED AS LABORERS

ATLANTA-Republican Gov. Nathan Deal suggested that unemployed people
on probation fill thousands of jobs that farmers say have been left
vacant by laborers frightened off by Georgia's tough new immigration
law.

His suggestion, made Tuesday, came as the state released a survey
showing a shortage of about 11,000 farm laborers at the beginning of
the harvest season for many crops. The new law, set to go into effect
July 1, requires businesses with 10 employees or more to use a federal
database to ensure employees are legally allowed to work in the U.S.
It also gives police more authority to investigate suspected illegal
immigrants.

Several industry groups in the state, including farming, poultry,
construction and tourism, lobbied against the new law's passage. Many
farmers also say they oppose the probationer idea.

Barbara Lawson, co-owner of a farm in southwest Georgia, said farmers
"would be scared to death to let ex-convicts work on their farms"
because of their criminal past.

A total of 233 farmers, polled from 76 of Georgia's 159 counties,
responded to the state's voluntary survey about labor shortages.
According to a another survey by the Georgia Agribusiness Council, 46%
of respondents said they were experiencing labor shortages and their
losses could total $300 million this year if some crops aren't harvested.

The governor said Tuesday that "the agriculture industry is the No. 1
economic engine in Georgia, and it is my sincere hope to find viable
and law-abiding solutions to the current problem our farmers face."

Mr. Deal said he had asked the state's Department of Corrections to
work with the Department of Agriculture to identify probationers who
might be able to toil in the fields. Many of the state's 100,000
probationers are unemployed, he said. "I believe this would be a great
partial solution," he said.

Probationers have been used in the past for agricultural work, but
"this is the first time we've done something to this scale," according
to Kristen Stancil, spokeswoman for the corrections agency. State
agriculture, labor and corrections officials are working on a pilot
program in which three farms in southwest Georgia would use
probationers, said Commissioner Gary Black.

The exact timing, pay and other details of the voluntary program for
probationers are still being worked out, he said. "It's incumbent upon
us to pursue anything that's close to feasible," Mr. Black said.

D.A. King, president of the Dustin Inman Society, an anti-illegal
immigrant group, said he favored the probation proposal, and also
noted that farmers could hire immigrant laborers through federal
guest-worker programs. "Once you have paid your penalty for violation
of a crime, you should have an even shot at employment," he said.