News

Original reporting on the state licensing, insurance and permitting rules that decide what it costs and what it takes to run a small business — sourced directly from statutes, agency records and legislative files.

We publish here when we find something that isn’t already documented elsewhere: a requirement that changed, a rule that contradicts what’s commonly published, or a pattern across states that no single agency reports because each one only knows its own. Every claim is cited to a primary source, and every piece carries a date and a byline.

Reports

For journalists and researchers

You are welcome to cite anything here with attribution and a link. If you need the underlying records, the statute citations in each piece link directly to the source documents. For questions or to request the working data behind a report, contact Robert Smith.

Related state-by-state references: workers’ comp requirements by state, business survival rates by state, SBA loan statistics, and official business entity search links.