The Gist

Georgia’s professionals and business owners are still struggling to obtain professional licenses in a timely manner. As the Secretary of State’s Office rolls out its new Georgia Online Application Licensing System to expedite the process, the efficiency of this new process is being put to the test.

What’s Happening

Thursday morning at the Georgia State Capitol, state legislators held the second meeting of a joint blue-ribbon committee to tackle issues within the Professional Licensing Boards Division of the Secretary of State’s Office. 

The meeting had notably high public attendance, including representatives from six professional licensing boards who spoke on the problems they faced and suggested possible solutions.

Many of the complaints overlapped, citing a lack of staff and resources to keep up with applications, issues with the time period allotted to submit applications and a lack of communication with the Secretary of State’s Office.

Ashlan Porter, the president of the Georgia Board of Nursing, said that in 2024, the board received 24,000 nursing license applications — a number that has doubled over the past decade.

“We just don’t have the number of staff members to get everything done in the way it must be done and in the time we want it to be done,” Porter said.

Thomas Davis, president of the Georgia State Board of Funeral Service, spoke of recent processing delays of up to eight weeks that he attributes to staff shortages and issues with the new processing system.

However, those claims were met with some pushback.

Sen. Ricky Williams, who is a funeral director, claimed he sent the Georgia State Board of Funeral Service a letter two sessions ago requesting a sit-down with the board and was met with “crickets.”

“We need more consumers on these boards than funeral directors themselves,” Williams said. “They’re protecting the profession, not the public. I’ve seen funeral homes hold bodies hostage.”

Following the presentations, Maggie Hastings, a representative from the Secretary of State’s Office, said two-thirds of Georgia’s licensing boards are still using the old system during the transition to the Georgia Online Application Licensing System, which the office maintains will help solve efficiency issues.

According to the secretary of state’s website, the office is extending renewal periods for different licenses due to the transition and recognizes delays are happening.

Why It Matters

The Georgia Online Application Licensing System was implemented in 2023 and will be used by every licensing board once the transition is complete. Because it is virtual, the program is expected to expedite previously manual tasks that hampered the process. As the committee continues to investigate licensing inefficiencies, the success of the Georgia Online Application Licensing System will be a major factor in determining how to move forward.

Dhara Shah, president of the American Physical Therapy Association of Georgia, said the new system has already had problems. She said users have reported significant bugs, including autofill providing incorrect information, paperwork disappearing from the system and lagging responses to correct the errors.

As the transition to the Georgia Online Application Licensing System continues, the Secretary of State’s Office acknowledges there is work to be done for everyone involved in the process. 

“The majority of the issues are not of organizational structure, but of laws, rules and board schedules,” Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs told State Affairs. “I know that we can work to make this process more administrative and less Byzantine. That will make things easier for our constituents, staff in the licensing division and board members.”

What’s Next?

The committee has until the end of the year to meet, hear comments from the public and develop a report based on its findings.

Read these related stories:

State committee investigates professional license delays, inefficiency

House leadership sets up committee to look into licensing delays, prompting pushback from Raffensperger

You can reach Nava Rawls at [email protected] or on X @navarawls.