Gov. Shapiro asks state agencies to address licensing, permitting and certification processes

On Friday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that all state agencies under his jurisdiction have reviewed their licensing, certification, and permitting process – a step toward his goal of making government work more efficiently and effectively.

According to his office, it is the first-ever complete catalogue of the more than 2,400 licenses, permits, and certifications issued by the state government. The cataloguing comes after Shapiro signed an executive order requiring government agencies to improve response times when residents and businesses apply for licenses, permits, and certificates. According to the executive order, if applicants don’t receive a response within a reasonable time frame, their application fee will be refunded.

The agency review catalogued 750 licenses, 800 permits, and 360 certifications issued by agencies under his jurisdiction. The comprehensive review found that the Department of State issues the most – more than 1,000 permits, certifications, and licenses – followed by the Department of Environmental Protection. According to Shapiro’s office, a catalogue of all of the licenses, permits, and certifications from state agencies had never been assembled.

“Pennsylvania residents and businesses deserve a government that works efficiently and effectively to get them answers,” Shapiro said. “Under my Administration, 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 deserve their money back. Pennsylvanians work hard to keep our economy moving, and the Commonwealth should work just as hard to process their applications.”

The governor’s office said it will now review and analyze the catalogue to establish efficient application processing times. Once in place, if an agency does not respond to an applicant within the time frame, the agency will refund the application fee.

The administration said it is already making processes to reduce wait times and inefficiencies. After the review of permits, licenses, and certifications, the Department of State reduced its processing time for corporate filings from over eight weeks to just under 1.5 weeks.