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    Making Government Work for You

    Government Efficiency

    Governor Shapiro is cutting red tape and making government more responsive, accessible, and accountable to the people who matter most: Pennsylvanians. The Governor has led a whole-of-government effort to improve Pennsylvanians’ customer experience and has been laser focused on making the government’s public- and business-facing services more user-friendly—and with eliminated backlogs and drastically shortened wait times, that work has paid off.

    The Shapiro Administration has streamlined how businesses and professionals interact with the Commonwealth.

    • Established the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA) to improve online services for Pennsylvanians and streamline the way they interact with the Commonwealth online.
    • Created the Office of Transformation and Opportunity, a one-stop-shop for businesses looking to grow in Pennsylvania and support transformational economic development, which helped cut through red tape for businesses looking to expand in the Commonwealth.
    • Launched first-in-the-nation online money-back guarantee system, increasing certainty for Pennsylvanians and accountability for Commonwealth agencies—and helping folks get their money back if the Commonwealth didn’t hear back about their permit, license, or certification by a date certain.
    • Required all state agencies to review their processes to approve licenses and permits and created a money-back guarantee if applicants do not receive a response within a certain window. The completed first-ever catalogue included more than 2,400 licenses, permits, and certifications issued by state government.
    • Signed an Executive Order to create the Pennsylvania Permit Fast Track Program to streamline the Commonwealth’s permitting process for key economic development and infrastructure projects and accelerate timelines.
    • Secured $16.9 million to modernize and speed up the permitting process at the Department of Environmental Protection and clear permit backlogs across his first and second budget.
    • The Department of Environmental Protection reduced its permit backlog by 75%—or nearly 1,750 permits.
    • The Department of State permitted registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who hold multistate licenses through the interstate Nurse Licensure Compact to practice in the Commonwealth.
    • Streamlined the application process for one of the Commonwealth’s most important economic tools, the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.
    • Reduced time to hire for Commonwealth jobs by nearly 30 percent—meaning the Commonwealth can respond to residents’ needs quicker.
    • Filled nearly 600 vacancies for Commonwealth positions related to permit, licensure, and certification processes, ensuring Pennsylvanians can get results when they need them.
    • Launched a new one-stop grant search tool to make it easier for residents, businesses, non-profits, schools, and local governments to find and apply to grant programs from state agencies.

    This Administration made it easier for Pennsylvania residents to receive state services and eliminated program backlogs.

    • Implemented automatic voter registration for eligible Commonwealth residents, joining 23 states that have taken this step to promote election security and save taxpayers time and money. Since implementation, the Department of State has received over 475,000 applications, with just shy of 170,000 new voter registrations and a 59% increase in new voter registrations from the same period two years ago.
    • Expanded services for the Unemployment Compensation program through the Department of Labor & Industry that offered in-person appointments to claimants to make it easier for Pennsylvanians with limited English proficiency or internet access to receive assistance. Since taking office, the UC Connect program has served more than 65,000 people.
    • The Department of Labor & Industry fully eliminated a backlog of 40,000 pandemic-era unemployment claims that required individual examination or adjudication just seven months after taking office.
    • The Department of Health eliminated its backlog of birth certificate amendment requests, which stood at 6,200 when the Governor took office.

    Governor Shapiro prioritized government transparency, representation, and communication.

    • Nominated the most diverse and qualified Cabinet in Pennsylvania history, including the first female Secretary of the Department of Corrections and the first Black Secretary of the Department of General Services.
    • Signed an Executive Order to increase opportunities for small and small diverse businesses to compete for state contracts and make the Commonwealth procurement process more accessible.
    • Expanded job opportunities with the Commonwealth by removing the four-year college degree requirement for around 65,000 positions.
    • Implemented a three-part ethics package for Cabinet members and executive branch employees with a zero-tolerance policy towards lobbyists and mandatory ethics trainings for more than 1,800 Commonwealth employees.
    • Reestablished the Governor’s Advisory Commissions on African American Affairs, Asian American and Pacific Islander Affairs, Latino Affairs, LGBTQ Affairs, and Women—while establishing the new Commission on Next Generation Engagement.

    The Shapiro Administration’s Streamlining Efforts By The Numbers:

    • The Department of State reduced the corporate filing wait time to 2 days.
    • The Department of General Services cut the time to certify a small business by 33%.
    • The Department of Education reduced new teacher certification wait time by 10 weeks.
    • The Department of Human Services eliminated the 35,000 Medicaid provider enrollment application backlog.
    • The Department of State cut the processing time for cosmetology and barbershop licenses from almost 2 weeks to the same day.
    • The Department of State reduced the turnaround time for doctors’ licenses from 43 days to 2 days.

    Hear from Pennsylvanians about the Shapiro-Davis Administration’s work: