FORMER GEORGIA SOS SPEAKS AGAINST HB87

Former Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox recently spoke against Georgia's anti-immigrant bill HB87. She said that bureaucratic delays of months that are expected to stem from HB87 could become catastrophic for people seeking professional licenses from the state and create direct consequences for small businesses.
The current secretary of state, Brian Kemp, estimated that enforcing the licensure part of HB87 could delay the licenses for tens of thousands of accountants, nurses and many other professionals by an additional three to four months, during which they cannot work (and nurses are in dire shortage). Each person applying for a license would be required to show identification in person which will delay turnaround time by 90 to 120 days. At the same time Kemp is asking for additional funding to hire more staff (another indirect tax and budget drain).
Georgia business leaders have raised concerns in recent days that the delays could slow down economic development at a time when the state can least afford it.
I applaud Ms. Cox' remarks. I will go even further and say that the law of unintended consequences is just that. There are far more reaching consequences of HB87 that the legislature had not previously thought about. There is no single positive thing that this legislation created. I am sure some additional unforeseen consequences will be revealed in the near future...