Small business owners could face fewer regulations and lawmakers could soon wield more power over state agencies under a bill passed Monday in the state Senate.
Senate Bill 28, sponsored by Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, would require state agencies to review all rules every four years to assess their economic impact unless the agency has reduced the number of rules they have by 10%.
The 22-page bill passed along party lines in a 33-21 vote. It will now go to the House, where a similar but narrower measure stalled last year.
“This is really a five-part bill to ensure that Georgia remains the No. 1 state for business,” Dolezal said.
The bill is part of a broader push from Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to roll back regulations on small businesses. Jones has branded it as a state-level companion to the Department of Government Efficiency run by President Donald Trump’s ally, Elon Musk, which aims to slash billions in federal spending.
Republicans say the measure would hold government bureaucrats accountable for unnecessary agency rules and loosen burdensome government regulation for small businesses.
“We do have a need, at all levels of government, to look at our rulemaking processes, to look at the rules that are on the books and to ensure that the rules that are on the books are meeting their intended purposes,” Dolezal said.
But Democrats said the measure is overly broad, and Republicans never specifically identified regulations that should be fixed.
“This is not driven by industry saying, ‘We need help with these specific regs,’” said Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs. “This is driven by a generic ideological distrust of government.”
Sen. Kim Jackson, a Stone Mountain Democrat, said that state agency inefficiencies are more about underfunding than overregulation.
“It is not their rules,” Jackson said. “It is because they are chronically underfunded and understaffed.”
The bill backed by Jones would give any legislator the ability to call for up to three reports during the legislative session to evaluate how legislation could affect small business.
Other parts of the bill would give legislators additional power over state agency rules. Under those provisions, legislative committees would be granted the authority to object to new agency rules. If a committee objects to a rule, it would not go into effect until the full Legislature could review it.
Additionally, the proposal would require agencies to produce an economic analysis for any rule expected to have more than a $1 million impact over the first five years of implementation. Lawmakers would be required to approve those rules before they are implemented.
Sen. Sheikh Rahman, D-Lawrenceville, said he was confused and asked why someone would market legislation as a state-level DOGE if the bill does not cut any jobs.
Dolezal said many other states have either passed similar measures — Florida, Kansas and Indiana are examples — or considered similar legislation across the country.
While SB 28 drew criticism from Senate Democrats, some of Jones’ efforts to roll back particular licensing requirements for hairstylists, veterinarians and qualified veterans seeking certain medical certifications were backed by both sides of the aisle last year.
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