Hundreds of jobs – comprising about 30 percent of U.S. workers, up from about 5 percent in the 1950s, according to a University of Minnesota study – are now subject to licensing somewhere across the country. Few people would argue against state licensing of medical doctors or others who directly impact public health. But upholsterers? Florists?
In fact, many of these laws have only a tenuous link to consumer protection or public safety and instead serve as protectionist barriers that benefit existing practitioners while restricting worker mobility, driving up costs, limiting consumer choice and stifling innovation.
In dozens of states, it takes more class time to become an auctioneer or cosmetologist than an emergency medical technician who literally holds people’s lives in their hands. In Florida, an unlicensed interior designer faces up to a year behind bars and a $1,000 fine. (The answer here isn’t to regulate EMTs more; it is to regulate other occupations less.)
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http://bit.ly/1rpbFpp
In fact, many of these laws have only a tenuous link to consumer protection or public safety and instead serve as protectionist barriers that benefit existing practitioners while restricting worker mobility, driving up costs, limiting consumer choice and stifling innovation.
In dozens of states, it takes more class time to become an auctioneer or cosmetologist than an emergency medical technician who literally holds people’s lives in their hands. In Florida, an unlicensed interior designer faces up to a year behind bars and a $1,000 fine. (The answer here isn’t to regulate EMTs more; it is to regulate other occupations less.)
Read story here...
http://bit.ly/1rpbFpp
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