For working-class Americans, navigating government systems is like a second job that doesn’t pay the bills. Need to renew your driver’s license? That’s half a day gone. Start a side business? Expect to spend months navigating complex licensing processes, completing paperwork, obtaining approvals, and making repeat visits. File a zoning variance? Bring snacks.

These aren’t mere annoyances. They’re regressive, invisible taxes on time — imposing the greatest burden on those with the least resources. A 2016 study by researchers at the consulting firm Management Lab revealed that bureaucratic waste — including delays and overregulation — costs America 17 percent of its GDP. This number represents real hours lost, opportunities denied, and lives hindered.

Take the Supreme Court case Sackett v. EPA. The Sacketts wanted to build a modest home on their land in Idaho. However, the Environmental Protection Agency claimed jurisdiction over their property and threatened to fine them tens of thousands of dollars per day unless they got an expensive permit. The couple fought back — and won. But it took a full 16 years to vindicate their rights.

First, lawmakers should kill deadweight licensure requirements. There’s no reason for someone to need government permission to, for example, do makeup, arrange flowers, or braid hair. There should be no public gatekeeping if there’s no significant public risk. And if some states don’t regulate an occupation and have no problems, that’s a good reason for all other states to rethink their restrictions.

Second, everything should be streamlined. If a government process takes more than 30 days, requires multiple in-person visits, or can’t be completed online, then it’s broken. Implement response-time caps, default approvals, and digital filing for everything. If Amazon can process millions of orders daily, our local governments can issue building permits without dragging the process out for months. Furthermore, regulatory audits shouldn’t measure only monetary costs — they should also measure time burden.

Finally, courts should treat bureaucratic time-wasting — particularly when it burdens people’s right to earn a living — as a matter of constitutional concern. Courts reflexively defer to regulators’ determination that a law is necessary, even when rules arbitrarily block people from earning a living. But if a law consumes people’s time without a clear public benefit, courts should strike it down.