(The Center Square) – Georgia’s code, the compilation of the state’s laws, has grown by at least 13% annually since 1965, creating red tape for businesses that lawmakers hope to cut.
Gov. Brian Kemp made the state’s regulatory burden on businesses a campaign issue. When he took office in 2019, he established the Georgians First Commission. A report from the Georgia Public Policy Foundation said research from the Esper Group released by the commission showed the state’s code had 18,160 regulations. More than 54% of them needed review.
“The majority of regulations that actually do impact businesses and consumers do come from unelected employees working in bureaucratic agencies on the executive side of things,” said J. Thomas Perdue, the author of the report in an interview with The Center Square. “A lot of these are obviously done with safety in mind, product control, quality control and things like that.”
But some of those benefits do not outweigh the economic cost that gets passed down to consumers, Perdue said.
Not all regulations come from the state, as some are federal and local. Businesses that are ready to open can face delays when they are ready to go.
“They can get bogged down in some county ordinance, or they get hit with another fee or another license that they have to do that confuses them and frustrates them,” said Hunter Loggins, Georgia State Director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
Georgia does a great job for the most part when working with small businesses, but sometimes turnover in personnel is a factor, Loggins said.
“I know when COVID hit and a lot of people started working from home and some didn’t come back to work so they are still trying to fill those positions,” Loggins said. “Having the processes a little more streamlined and in one place could be helpful.”
Kemp and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones have focused on what the state could do. The Georgians First Commission appointed by Kemp last met in March 2020 according to its website, but no report is listed. A spokesperson for Kemp’s office said the governor has made cutting regulation a key issue since he was elected when asked about the report.
Jones presented backed a package of bills called the “Red Tape Rollback” during the 2024 General Assembly. One of the bills that passed will examine eliminating outdated boards and commissions, a move also made by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. With the approval of the Iowa Legislature, 68 boards were eliminated.
The Small Business Protection Act, which would allow state officials to create reports on the impact a bill could have on small businesses, didn’t pass. Jones’ office did not immediately return a message to The Center Square about any bills that may be on his agenda for 2025.
Georgia still has some work to do, according to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s report. One suggestion is adding sunrise and sunset provisions to regulations.
“A sunrise provision involves a cost-benefit analysis of a proposed regulation, and triggers a legislative review if that regulation is projected to exceed a certain industry impact,” the report said. “With a sunset provision, agencies are required to review an existing regulation after a period of time and justify its continued existence. These provisions force agencies to be as cost-effective as possible when proposing new rules and disallows the continuation of irrelevant and outdated regulations.”
