Occupational licensing must go.

[Lucille]

http://reason.com/archives/2014/06/0...orse-masseuses

Celeste Kelly, Grace Granatelli, and Stacey Kollman make their living by providing massage services to horses and other animals. For more than a decade, these three women have supported themselves by doing what they love while alleviating the pain of animals and bringing comfort to their owners. But if established veterinarians and bureaucrats in the state of Arizona and Maryland have their way, Kelly, Granatelli, and Kollman will not only be barred from their chosen livelihood, they could face up to $3,500 in fines and six months in jail.

The therapists are in trouble because they lack official licenses from their local State Veterinary Medical Examining Boards. But obtaining a license is absurdly difficult. "To become licensed, applicants must graduate from an accredited veterinary school, pass rigorous national and state licensing examinations and pay a $400 fee," the Institute for Justice (I.J.), a nonprofit public interest law firm representing the women, explains on its website.

None of the 28 fully accredited veterinary schools in the United States are in Arizona, and getting a diploma from any of them requires several years and thousands of dollars. Adding insult to injury, the schools are not required to teach animal massage, "nor is it necessary to demonstrate knowledge of or proficiency in massage to graduate or become licensed."

Unfortunately, this abusive treatment of American entrepreneurs isn't confined to horse masseuses. Unlicensed hairdressers, barbers, and hair braiders, too, were under attack in Washington, Utah, the District of Columbia, California, Mississippi, Minnesota, and Ohio before I.J. secured justice.

continued.

[Henry Rogue]

Comrade, it is for your own good, that we do this. Now get in the welfare line or off to the gulag with you.

[donnay]

I agree it is just another extortion racket.

[oyarde]

I agree it is just another extortion racket.

And worse .I agree .

[torchbearer]

I agree.

[Suzanimal]

Unlicensed hairdressers, barbers, and hair braiders, too, were under attack in Washington, Utah, the District of Columbia, California, Mississippi, Minnesota, and Ohio before I.J. secured justice.

All of them are stupid but "hair braiders", really?

[Theocrat]

The irony of the U.S. government's imposition of occupational licensing is that none of the elected officials have occupational licenses to create laws in this nation. They are elected (or appointed, in some cases) based on the faith of the voters, not on whether they are licensed to be lawmakers.

More importantly, our government officials have strayed so far away from the enumerated powers of the Constitution, which restrict their jurisdiction over certain affairs in the market, that for them to impose licensing as the standard for who is competent to perform in an occupation is at the height of hypocrisy, on their part.

[phill4paul]

I do carpentry, painting, ground maintenance, plumbing and any and most everything else someone is willing to pay cash for. Ta hell with the state and their licensing scam.
It's their way of extorting taxes from you. That is all. Theye do not care about public safety or anything else they claim licensing is for. Theye just want you in the system so Theye can have a piece of your pie.

[specsaregood]

The irony of the U.S. government's imposition of occupational licensing is that none of the elected officials have occupational licenses to create laws in this nation. They are elected (or appointed, in some cases) based on the faith of the voters, not on whether they are licensed to be lawmakers.

On that note, last I checked, the majority of senators and plurality (near majority) of representatives in D.C. have law degrees. Be careful you don't give em any ideas or they'll pass a law you need a law degree to get to d.c.

[axiomata]

How come there's a national movement to get a "Living Wage Now!" but not "End Occupational Licensing Now!"?

[Matt Collins]

The Institute for Justice does a lot of work against this sort of nonsense; great organization.

[Henry Rogue]

How come there's a national movement to get a "Living Wage Now!" but not "End Occupational Licensing Now!"?

Because people think government is keeping them safe from unscrupulous business people and established businesses don't like the competition, so only a small minority see it as the problem that it is. I guess it is just one more thing that democrats and republicans are in agreement on.

[donnay]

The Institute for Justice does a lot of work against this sort of nonsense; great organization.

Finally...I can agree with you.

[Origanalist]

Because people think government is keeping them safe from unscrupulous business people and established businesses don't like the competition, so only a small minority see it as the problem that it is. I guess it is just one more thing that democrats and republicans are in agreement on.

That pretty much nails it. That, and the governments unholy obsession with controlling and taxing every activity known to mankind.

[Henry Rogue]

That pretty much nails it. That, and the governments unholy obsession with controlling and taxing every activity known to mankind.

Law making is an addiction.

[Theocrat]

On that note, last I checked, the majority of senators and plurality (near majority) of representatives in D.C. have law degrees. Be careful you don't give em any ideas or they'll pass a law you need a law degree to get to d.c.

Having a law degree doesn't make one qualified to make laws. In fact, the majority of our members in Congress violate the one law that rules what laws they can make while in office, everyday--the Constitution. If they can't obey that law (upholding their oath of office), then they are not qualified to make any law, whether they have a law degree or not.

On a general note, I've become more and more convinced over the years that having a degree, at any level, does not make a person more apt, intelligent, nor competent than anyone else (with the exception of a few fields, such as engineering or medicine). I've known so many people who have degrees that cannot argue logically, understand simple principles, nor explain their position on any given issue. Society puts this overbearing emphasis on having a degree as if that makes one automatically qualified or proficient in something. I think that's where faith in "occupational licensing" stems from.

[cubical]

But than anyone on the street could perform surgery!!!!

/sarc

[AZJoe]

[AZJoe]

[sparebulb]

True story.

A sort of friend of mine, who is a jewish physician AND lawyer, was outraged that the 911 hijackers were not properly licensed to operate the Boeings.

There was too much there for me to work with, so I just let it go.

[LibForestPaul]

That pretty much nails it. That, and the governments unholy obsession with controlling and taxing every activity known to mankind.

Reminds me of the internet tax...So many clamoring for it. Exploiting peoples base instincts are good for business.

[r3volution 3.0]

This issue doesn't get nearly enough attention.

Half of the problem of price inflation in medicine can be attributed to licensing.

[Anti Federalist]

True story.

A sort of friend of mine, who is a jewish physician AND lawyer, was outraged that the 911 hijackers were not properly licensed to operate the Boeings.

There was too much there for me to work with, so I just let it go.

[sparebulb]

This issue doesn't get nearly enough attention.

Half of the problem of price inflation in medicine can be attributed to licensing.

I don't know if that is actually true, but I do like the sound of it.

Unexpected +rep for you.

[Krugminator2]

This issue doesn't get nearly enough attention.

Half of the problem of price inflation in medicine can be attributed to licensing.

Milton Friedman first raised the issue in 1962. Certification also is time consuming and is meant primarily to collect fees.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rand-p...ication-racket
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/...DE3CC6&gwt=pay

[kpitcher]

A little story about licensing in my state.

Plumbing licenses in the state of Michigan are a joke. My father's a licensed master plumber and a licensed plumbing contractor. The contractor part is required to advertise in the state that he's a plumber. I read the fine print on the renewal form this year, it's a set fee for a master plumber, it's a set fee for the contractor. However if you renew the contractor it automatically renews the master plumber so don't need to pay that. I pointed that out, he said he's been paying both fees for as long as he recalls. No refund checks... hrmm, go figure.

Random people are advertising on local facebook groups that they're plumbers, they're not licensed. Some bad advice given even. Gave a call to one to let them know, was told I was a prick. Nice guy. So I contacted the state licensing board to lodge a complaint. Their response? They can't do a thing since he's non licensed so he doesn't fall under their rules. Talk to the prosecutor as that's a law being broken.

Prosecutor said advertising plumbing services on facebook group with 3000 members doesn't actually count as advertising so no laws were broken. Interesting. Somehow I bet if I said I was a lawyer on facebook they'd reconsider that.

If someone hired a non licensed person for work that requires a license they could press charges after the fact personally.

The homeowner could also not pay the unlicensed plumber for work done.

Oh well, nothing to be done to actually be worthy of being called a prick.

However as the system stands in Michigan the state gets fees, non licensed people must not be so bad since the state doesn't care, so it just makes the legal guys have to pay more.


The thing I see with licensing has to do with insurance. If you hire someone that the state says requires a license to do a job, and something happens, their insurance may not cover it - if they even have insurance. This means the homeowner is on the hook for another's mistake.

[DamianTV]

Licensing is only a way to prohibit competition. Basically, let the govt do your dirty work for you. Like driving a taxi in New York...

[axiomata]

Thaddeus Russell had a recent podcast on the role of the government in college accreditation.