HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 950 Offered February 19, 2007 Celebrating the life of J. Eldred Hill, Jr. ---------- Patron-- Callahan ----------

WHEREAS, J. Eldred Hill, Jr., former president of Unemployment Benefit Advisors, Inc. and former Commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission, died on January 29, 2007; and

WHEREAS, Eldred Hill was born on a farm in Cannon County, Tennessee, and his family moved to Martinsville, Virginia, when he was 12 years old; and

WHEREAS, after graduating from Martinsville High School in 1946, Eldred Hill attended Vanderbilt University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English, and then went on to obtain a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1953; and

WHEREAS, Eldred Hill's first job after law school was as special counsel to the Virginia Department of Highways, and, after only 18 months in that position, he was made an assistant attorney general and was assigned as chief counsel to the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Commission; and

WHEREAS, in 1959, at age 29, Eldred Hill was appointed the Commissioner of the Unemployment Compensation Commission, the youngest person ever appointed to head a major state agency; and

WHEREAS, tackling the new challenge with drive and determination, Eldred Hill's first major accomplishment was persuading the General Assembly to change the agency's name to the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC), which created a more positive image, and next he was able to obtain $2 million in federal funds for a new building to house the agency; and

WHEREAS, during Eldred Hill's seven-year tenure as commissioner, new VEC branches were built in 17 communities, and the commission saw the number of workers placed in jobs rise from 82,000 in 1959 to more than 110,000 per year by 1966; and

WHEREAS, in 1966, Eldred Hill accepted an appointment as director of industrial development for the Commonwealth, and he accompanied then Governor Mills Godwin on his first overseas trade mission; and

WHEREAS, Eldred Hill moved to McLean in 1967 to become executive director, and later president, of Unemployment Benefit Advisors, Inc. (now UWC--Strategic Services on Unemployment & Workers' Compensation), a group of businesses that advocates for keeping unemployment benefits under state rather than federal administrative control; and

WHEREAS, well-known and respected as an expert on workers' compensation and unemployment insurance law, Eldred Hill testified frequently before congressional committees, and he was appointed to the National Commission on Unemployment Compensation by President Gerald Ford and re-appointed by President Jimmy Carter; and

WHEREAS, in 1984, Eldred Hill helped found and served as president of the National Foundation for Unemployment and Workers' Compensation, whose purpose is to conduct research and report on issues relating to unemployment compensation and workers' compensation, and in 1993, he retired from both Unemployment Benefit Advisors and the foundation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of J. Eldred Hill, Jr., an exemplary public servant and fine Virginian; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of J. Eldred Hill, Jr. as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.