A key part of Georgia’s new immigration law has created a massive backlog in licensing renewals for thousands of insurance agencies, salesmen, counselors and others in the industry, state officials said.
But the Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner said those who apply for their renewals as required by Dec. 31 should not worry. They won’t face late fees and may continue to do business as usual — even if they don’t have their new licenses in hand — as state officials continue to work through the backlog.
At issue is a part of the law that requires people applying for public benefits — such as professional licenses, grants and loans — to submit a “secure and verifiable” form of identification. That identification could include a state-issued driver’s license or passport.
State legislators approved the law last year with an eye toward blocking illegal immigrants from getting public benefits they are not entitled to receive.
But the law is having some unintended consequences. For example, state insurance officials said it is forcing them to inspect all the forms of identification applicants are submitting online and by email and fax, a time-consuming effort.
The same law also has been bogging down the process the Secretary of State’s Office uses to issue licenses to thousands of nurses, cosmetologists and many other professionals across the state. County officials also have complained the law is creating red tape and causing delays.
Each year, state insurance officials issue about 188,000 licenses. As of Thursday, they had renewed 105,000 licenses. Also as of Thursday, about 34,000 renewal applications were on hold because they were incomplete. Most were incomplete, according to the office, because they were missing one of the required forms of identification or a complete affidavit confirming the applicant’s legal status.
“Because of the additional obligations to physically inspect newly required documents, we have moved from an electronic renewal process to one that is paper intensive,” said Kale Hodges, chief information officer for the Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner.
“Our staff has reallocated resources to address the additional workload,” Hodges said, “and our private vendor has tripled their staff to process the license renewals.”
Secretary of State Brian Kemp and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia have been urging state lawmakers to amend the law during the legislative session set to begin next month.
State Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City, has filed legislation to tweak the law so that people who have presented identification proving U.S. citizenship would not have to do so again when reapplying for public benefits. State lawmakers sought to make a similar change last year, but the effort stalled in the House.
Jerry Duke, executive vice president of the Professional Insurance Agents of Georgia Inc., said he would support such a change.
“We knew that it was going to be a slow process, just being the first year and everybody having to do it for the first time,” said Duke, whose organization represents thousands of agents in the state. “I actually visited with the department today, and I think they are coming along and catching up.”
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