HB 579: Professions and businesses; licensure to engage in trade; provisions

Georgia's roughly 40 professional licensing boards, which oversee trades from cosmetology to counseling, currently must individually process every license application, renewal, and reinstatement. This bill lets the director of the professional licensing boards division (housed in the Secretary of State's office) approve straightforward applications directly when they clearly meet all legal requirements, sending only unclear or incomplete cases to the full board. Boards keep full authority to grant or deny any application themselves. The bill also updates where board meetings can be held, requires the public roster of licensees to include people who received cease and desist orders for practicing without a license, adds a 45 day grace period for late license renewals, removes the requirement for notice and a hearing before the Governor can remove a board member, limits board rulemaking to protecting public health, safety, and welfare, and eliminates separate standards committees within the counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists board. It takes effect July 1, 2026.

• Authorizes the division director to review and approve routine license issuance, renewal, and reinstatement applications on behalf of professional licensing boards when all requirements are clearly met.
• Requires unclear or incomplete applications to be forwarded to the relevant board for its own review and decision.
• Adds a 45 day grace period after a license expires during which it can still be renewed if fees and requirements are met.
• Requires the public roster of licensees to also list people issued cease and desist orders for practicing a licensed trade without a license, and to be posted on the Secretary of State's website.
• Removes the requirement that the Governor give notice and hold a hearing before removing a professional licensing board member for incompetence, neglect, or dishonesty.
• Limits professional licensing boards' rulemaking power to rules designed to protect public health, safety, and welfare, and repeals separate standards committees for counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.

Anyone applying for, renewing, or holding a professional or trade license in Georgia (from health care providers to cosmetologists to counselors), the roughly 40 professional licensing boards themselves, the Secretary of State's professional licensing boards division, board members subject to removal, and the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists.

Faster administrative approval of clear-cut license applications could shorten wait times for people trying to start or keep working in a licensed trade. The added renewal grace period reduces the risk of losing a license over a brief lapse, while easier board-member removal and a public list of unlicensed practitioners under cease and desist orders change accountability and oversight within the licensing system.

• Section 1-1 lets the division director grant applicants approval to sit for licensing exams and updates where board meetings may be held, removing a reference to holding meetings 'in the capitol.'
• Section 1-1 requires the public roster of licensees to also include people under cease and desist orders (except those unlicensed for 45 days or less) and to be posted online by the Secretary of State.
• Section 1-2 and new Code Section 43-1-3.1 (Section 1-3) give the division director authority to review and grant license issuance, renewal, or reinstatement applications when qualifications are clearly satisfied, without needing official transcripts if education can be confirmed another reliable way.
• Section 1-3 specifies boards retain full authority to grant or deny applications, and the director must stop reviewing an application once a board acts on it.
• Section 1-4 adds a 45 day grace period for renewing an expired license or certificate if fees and requirements are met.
• Section 1-5 removes the requirement for notice and a hearing before the Governor removes a board member for inability, neglect, incompetence, or dishonest conduct.
• Section 1-6 limits professional licensing boards' rulemaking authority to rules that protect public health, safety, and welfare.
• Section 2-1 repeals the Code section creating separate standards committees for professional counseling, social work, and marriage and family therapy specialties.

1. 2026-07-01Effective Date
2. 2025-05-09Act 89
3. 2025-05-09House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-27Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-03-27Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2025-03-21Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
8. 2025-03-20Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)

• Matt Reeves (R, HD-99)Primary sponsor
• Matt Hatchett (R, HD-155)
• Marcus Wiedower (R, HD-121)
• Brian Prince (D, HD-132)
• Tim Fleming (R, HD-114)
• Sandy Donatucci (R, HD-105)
• Larry Walker, III (R, SD-20)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2025

   158 yea, 2 nay (16 not voting, 4 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #201

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2025

   53 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 3 excused)

   PASSAGE: Senate Vote #306

• professional licensing
• occupational licenses
• license renewal
• state regulatory boards
• counselor licensing