ATLANTA — Georgia's Lt. Governor Burt Jones, alongside House Speaker Jon Burns, is launching a joint investigation into licensing issues within the Secretary of State's professional licensing boards division.
“The genesis of how this started was really just listening to constituents and, unfortunately, constituents’ complaints about not being able to get a good turnaround (from the Secretary of State's office)," Jones explained.
The launch of the Blue Ribbon Committee investigation comes following months of complaints from Georgians about delays getting the state's new online licensing system called GOALS (Georgia Online Application Licensing System) that was launched last fall.
Physical therapists like Blake Hampton were among the first and largest groups of professionals to be impacted by the new system because of what date their renewal deadline fell on.
“I hired (a) new grad therapist back in November, and she was waiting to get her license, and it was taking some time. So we were kind of in a pickle that we hired somebody that basically can't work because we're waiting on the license," Hampton explained.
On Tuesday, Dhara Shah, the president of the Georgia Chapter of the APTA (American Physical Therapist Association), shared that about 400 newly graduated physical therapists are still having issues obtaining a license.
The delays have impacted not only physical therapists but also contractors, cosmetologists, and occupational therapists. As each profession nears its license renewal deadline throughout this year, there's concern the issues could continue to impact Georgia's workforce.
"If they can't work, they can't earn a paycheck for their families and in a lot of cases, you know, that becomes a very dire situation," Jones said.
In a letter to Georgia's Sec. of State Brad Raffensberger, leaders wrote the "current economy presents enough barriers on these critical businesses' ability to keep their doors open," adding "they will not allow licensing to be another impediment."
Just hours after the announcement was made, Raffensperger thanked the General Assembly for joining the effort to improve licensing.
“I want to give my gratitude to Speaker Burns and Lt. Governor Jones for enlisting their help to improve the licensing process for professionals across Georgia,” Raffensperger said. “Together, we can build upon the recommendations of my GA WORKS Licensing Commission and get those reforms past the finish line. We will cut red tape for thousands across the state.”
Lt. Governor Jones shared that the investigation was not a response to efforts led by the Secretary of State's Office.
"I'll be honest with you, none of it was stemming from them. Quite honestly, when we were trying to address issues for these individuals and reached out to the Secretary of State's office, we were having problems," Jones explained.
Leaders said the committee will be tasked with identifying what's causing the difficulties while finding potential solutions and creating a list of recommendations.
"The main goal is to find out why we're having such a delay and look at how we can better streamline it and also look how we can be a bit more customer friendly," Jones said.