MACON, Ga. — On Wednesday, a Georgia Blue-Ribbon Committee investigating ongoing licensing issues held its first meeting.
11Alive was the only Atlanta news organization that traveled to Macon for the meeting, which was held on Middle Georgia State University’s campus.
Georgia’s Lt. Gov. Burt Jones formed the joint committee last month, alongside House Speaker Jon Burns, to investigate the Secretary of State’s Professional Licensing Boards Division. It follows months of complaints from Georgians unable to renew or get their business license.
Gabriel Sterling, with the Secretary of State’s Licensing Board, shared active licenses in Georgia have increased by 24% from 2018 to 2024, while state funds allocated to serve applicants/licensees have increased by 5% since 2018.
“I don’t think I was being coy about asking for more resources,” Sterling said.
At one point, Sterling discussed his goal of elevating the licensing boards division’s customer service to the equivalent of a Chick-fil-A.
“You talked about a Chick-fil-A level of customer service, but no offense, your reputation is not a customer friendly reputation,” responded Committee Member and Senator Larry Walker.
Sterling said a lack of staffing and outdated policies have led to delays in getting applications processed.
“This is about moving into the 21st century because we have a 20th century tool, we’ve been using with 19th century licensing laws,” said Sterling.
The division launched a new online licensing system called GOALS last fall, which many Georgians have complained about as a part of the problem.
“We’ve heard it stated several times, one of the primary calls that members are getting that I get personally is the problems and times required to get license renewal in this state,” said House Speaker Jon Burn.
Many Georgians are depending on leaders to fix the issue because the Peach State has earned a reputation as the number one place in the country to do business for decades.
“We want to be ready by January... take action here,” added Speaker Burns.
The committee disclosed their plan to conduct additional meetings throughout the year to collect feedback from Georgia’s workforce.
