Georgia boosts watch on products from ‘countries of concern,’ trims bureaucracy

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday signed a slate of bills aimed at trimming down the state government’s regulations, and one that boosts prohibitions against using technology or other products and services originating in countries that might threaten national security.

Kemp signed HB 113, a law that directs the Georgia Technology Authority to create and maintain a list of companies and products produced by foreign adversaries. The law directs the agency to follow the guidance of federal agencies, such as the Department of Commerce, in identifying “countries of concern.”

The law, which follows a growing trend among states in recent months to button up the security standards surrounding their procurements, would hold foreign companies or third-party resellers liable for civil penalties of up to $250,000. Companies and products that make it to the state’s list will be ineligible for state contracts for an indefinite period.

Banning software and hardware deemed especially at risk of containing backdoors or other security vulnerabilities is normal work for state governments, but recent months have brought increased activity by many states. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen last March signed an executive order instating a sweeping ban on the use or download of software created or owned by affiliates of the Chinese Communist Party. New York, North Carolina and Texas have created similar prohibitions.

Kemp on Friday also celebrated a host of bills he said are designed to consolidate the state’s operations, including SB 96, which updates a wide range of requirements related to “boards, panels, authorities, centers, commissions, committees, councils, task forces, and other such bodies.”

Another bill signed Friday, HB 579, changes rules about how some professional licenses are administered and managed. HB 630 removes the state’s used car and used parts divisions and hands the work to the State Board of Registration. He signed several other bills, similarly designed to simplify processes or consolidate governing boards.

In January, just a few days after Donald Trump entered the Oval Office, Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones touted the state’s new bureaucratic diet as a “complement” to Elon Musk’s federal Department of Government Efficiency, which proceeded to slash through federal programs and workforces.

“I look forward to Georgia leading the way and joining President Trump in reducing the size and scope of government, while promoting the growth of businesses across our state,” Jones said in January.

Over the past three-plus months, states have scrambled to assemble their own DOGE task forces or similar bodies, including in Iowa, Texas and at least 20 other states. “Iowa was doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing,” Gov. Kim Reynolds bragged during a hearing before her state’s House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last February.

But Kemp’s administration on Friday advertised the new laws under the more traditional banner of “streamlining government,” avoiding the more aggressive language of efficiency, and frequently concomitant claims of fraud, that have become common with some Republican governors this year.

“Every day we serve the people of Georgia, it’s important for us to remember that we work for them,” Kemp said in a press release. “It’s our job to help streamline their experiences with the government, make it easier for them to access opportunity, and limit as best we can the challenges they may face in accessing new skills and good careers. Thanks to the diligent work of our partners in the General Assembly, I’m proud to say that the bills I’ve signed today will help us accomplish that.”