Obviously 92 steps is a lot, but if you want to improve the situation, it's no use just saying "this is terrible, make it simpler!", you need to consider:
- Which steps are unnecessary? Unless you have the view that the bureaucracy is just designed to be hellish, you need to figure out what each step is trying to achieve, and what would be lost if it were removed.
- Can steps/agencies be merged? If there are nine government agencies involved, you could simplify the procedure by moving the responsibilities to fewer agencies. But there are limits... at the extreme, if you made just one government agency responsible for restaurants, you'd make opening a restaurant easier, but - congratulations! - you've effectively just created a new government agency for restaurants. Now you've added to the bureaucracy!
Your second point reminded me of an interesting different between US government services and German government services. Not for businesses but for individuals. Here we have, since the 1980, “peoples offices”, either run buy the municipality or the county (never both) to address most common in-person government interactions for folks. This allows not only consolidating multiple interactions in one visit but also increases the geographic density of the offices as they have a lot more visitors.
The services they offer range from registering your apartment (doubles as voter registration), getting IDs, passport, and driver licenses, changing the registration of your car, getting proof of (the absence) of your criminal record.
For many of these services, they have delegated or assigned authority from whatever government agency is responsible while for some they merely operate as a service center.
I wish more of this could be done online, but it’s certainly nice I don’t have to go to 15 different places to do all of that.
A "people's office" is the top recommendation in the report:
1. Create a true one-stop shop for starting a business, with step-by-step guides and well-organized information that cover city and state requirements.
2. Simplify the process to obtain building permits by combining steps and paperwork, creating more guides for complying with agency rules, and lowering fees.
These seem like excellent recommendations.
I'm not so sure about the other recommendations:
> 3. Eliminate “clean hands” requirements to ensure those working to lift themselves out of poverty are not immediately disqualified.
Maybe. Not being able to start a business because of a few parking tickets on your personal vehicle is obviously harmful. But there's also potential for abuse. Some sort of dollar limit does seem reasonable.
> Remove unfair barriers that burden specific
types of work, such as home-based businesses
and food trucks, with unnecessary restrictions.
1. What barriers? "Must prove you have a refuse management plan" may sound like needless red tape, but see my top-level post.
2. home-based businesses sound like no big deal when you're on SFH >= half acre lots, but these rules exist in dense cities for a good reason. The type of business and type of residential dwelling are important considerations. Running a business out of a studio apartment using the hallway as a waiting room can be enormously disruptive to hundreds of people.
> Work with the state to eliminate state-level bar-
riers to work, such as criminal history checks,
that often target vulnerable residents.
Not super frequently but it happens. The classic one is when moving apartments (register apartment, update ID card, update car registration, potentially get a new local parking permit). I also got the timing for my ID card and passport synced so I can do them in one visit.
In the last year I moved twice and will likely move once more in the next 12 months (temporary places, looking to buy something) so I’m a bit more appreciative right now.
The trouble with Germany is the need to do too much in person, and thus too much needs to be done on a local level.
The UK isn't a great example for much, but for instance:
* Passport application - controlled centrally. Has been done by post for years. Now available online.
* Update car registration - controlled centrally. Has been done by post for years. Now available online.
* Register to vote (closest thing the UK has to the anmeldung) - controlled locally. Done by posting or emailing a form to your local council.
I can imagine registering you apartment when you move in, updating your drivers license, changing the registration on your vehicle all at the same time. We do that here in the US all under the local hellhole called the DMV.
1 - Yes. Houston, TX has 4 DMVs for 4-6M residents.
2- I could not. Moving back from NY hurt. Had to do everything in person.
After getting accustomed to NY DMVs where you set up an appointment, and you are served immediately when you get there, Texas (or at least Houston) is painful.
There's a political catch-22 here. Everyone that works in those departments and agencies that will be axed will fight tooth and nail to make sure it's not their department.
It's a bit like the housing crisis. We need more homes, ok well who votes on those homes? The people that already owns homes and are interested in the value of those homes going up.
- Which steps are unnecessary? Unless you have the view that the bureaucracy is just designed to be hellish, you need to figure out what each step is trying to achieve, and what would be lost if it were removed.
- Can steps/agencies be merged? If there are nine government agencies involved, you could simplify the procedure by moving the responsibilities to fewer agencies. But there are limits... at the extreme, if you made just one government agency responsible for restaurants, you'd make opening a restaurant easier, but - congratulations! - you've effectively just created a new government agency for restaurants. Now you've added to the bureaucracy!