Georgians say licensing board problems continue

(The Center Square) – Problems with Georgia's professional licensing board still exist despite some improvements over the past few months, a legislative committee was told on Friday.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and House Speaker John Burns created the Joint Blue-Ribbon Committee to Investigate Licensing Issues in May after receiving what they called "countless" constituent complaints.

Vera Jones is one of those constituents who spoke at a committee meeting held at Georgia Southern University. She said it wasn't until last year that she began having trouble renewing her license. One hairdresser posted on social media that she was identified as an "illegal alien" when she went to renew her license, despite having been a stylist for the past 40 years, Jones told the panel.

Jones said she is selling the hair salon she ran for 15 years after months of trying to renew her facilities license.

"This is a pervasive problem all of the sudden in the state of Georgia," Jones said. "And why is that?"

The secretary of state's office, which oversees professional licensure, has implemented a new system called Georgia's Online Application Licensing System, also known as GOALS, which Jones said could be part of the problem.

The office is fielding hundreds of calls about professional licensing, but response time is improving, said Todd Zandrowicz, director of the Professional License Board and Call Center.

Maggie Hasty of the secretary of state's office recommended some legislation to the panel that could speed up the licensing process.

One suggestion is to allow the division director to issue licenses if the applicant meets all the requirements administratively. Licensing boards could handle rulemaking, code violations and flagged applications, Hasty said.

Interstate licensing compacts could make it easier for out-of-state workers to do work in Georgia.

"This became a real issue during the storm as we were trying to get security guards," said Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia. "We were having some looting problems and as it turns out, you are not licenced across the state and that was a significant issue."

Rep. Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, cochairman of the panel with Tillery, said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was invited to the committee meeting but declined.

"It's obvious to me and probably to everybody sitting at this table that that division has been neglected for probably close to four years because they did not have a person in charge," Hatchett said. "It's very frustrating."