On Wednesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced his administration had launched an online money-back guarantee system that would provide increased accountability and transparency for the state’s permitting, licensing and certification processes.
The system would allow residents, businesses, charities and schools to receive a refund of application fees for permits, licenses and certifications if they are not processed within a certain timeframe. The system is part of Shapiro’s work to eliminate long wait times for permitting, licenses and certifications. In conjunction with the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA), and the Office of Transformation and Opportunity (OTO), the governor has worked to create the money-back guarantee tool so Pennsylvania residents, business and organizations can request refunds with the state does not meet adequate timeframes.
“When I took office in January, I made a promise to the good people of Pennsylvania that my Administration would work at the speed of business and respond in a timely manner. Today, with the launch of PAyback, we are delivering on that promise, increasing transparency and accountability in the application process and giving Pennsylvanians the certainty they need to be successful,” Shapiro said. “My Administration has made significant progress already to improve our processing timelines – eliminating backlogs and reducing the time it takes to do business with the Commonwealth. Now, thanks to the work of our teams at the Office of Transformation and Opportunity, the Office of General Counsel, the Office of Administration, and CODE PA, Pennsylvanians will have certainty – they will know how long it will take for agencies to respond, and if an agency doesn’t live up to that promise, they will get their money back.”
Every agency under the Governor’s jurisdiction has catalogued their permits, licenses and certifications – a total of 2,400 for the first time ever. Since then, the OTO and Office of General Counsel has reviewed, analyzed and established efficient application processing times for them based on agency recommendations. With those timelines in mind, the CODE PA team worked to update the application platforms and services online and publish the recommended application processing times.
As a result, Pennsylvania workers and businesses will now be able to use the PAyback.pa.gov application to select a specific permit, license or certification and determine if they are eligible for a refund. Once the applicant has completed their refund, it will go to the agency issuing the permit, license or certification and if the refund application is approved, the worker or business will receive their check within 45 days.
The state said approximately 70 percent of the Commonwealth-issued permits, licenses and certifications are eligible for a refund. However, refunds will only be issued for applications received on or after Nov. 1, 2023.