Reducing Licensing Barriers and Combating Inflation

Imagine that you are a stay-at-home mom who decides that she wants to start cutting the hair of friends and acquaintances, and even make money off of it. However, someone discovers that you are not licensed and reports you. Learning to cut hair can be expensive, and it can require thousands of hours and hundreds of dollars in fees to complete.

What if you are the wife of a service member? There are many licenses out there that require education longer than the family will be at the unit. While work has been done to get licenses from other states recognized, reform needs to happen so these spouses can continue to work even after being transferred elsewhere.

Licensing reform may not sound like as much of an exciting subject as fighting against critical race theory and gender ideology in schools, or fighting to protect women’s sports. However, millions of people have a professional certification or license, and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic many states reduced licensing barriers temporarily or permanently. It truly affects so many people. This is truly a bipartisan issue, and it is one that does not get enough attention.

Throughout the pandemic, I fought for making a lot of occupational licensing rollbacks to become more permanent in many states for many workers, especially for healthcare professionals practicing telemedicine. Most of these were only temporary as long as a state was in a “declared emergency” or until certain states rolled back on them. While several states succeeded, others ended up doing a “rollback” on the “rollback.” This includes Pennsylvania, which had licensing waivers expire by June 30, 2022.

Now that the pandemic is over, it is time to discuss how reducing licensing barriers will not just help workers. It will help so many of us.

So How Can Reducing Licensing Barriers Help Reduce Inflation?

As of May 2022, consumer prices have increased like wildfire. We have seen both federal and state governments struggle to ease the burden of these rising costs. I had a friend who is a hairstylist who had to raise her prices due to the cost of living and rising prices of the products she uses.

What are some of the reasons for inflation? To name a few: Supply chain issues and worker shortages, irresponsible government spending, cost of travel. Here is a Finance Friday video of Patrice Onwuka discussing why these factors have caused inflation to rise. While the video is focused on Thanksgiving, it is still relevant to what we are facing as a nation today.

Several people and organizations have started to look at how occupational licensing can help reduce inflation. Tom Joyce, a political reporter for the New Boston Post stated:

If there were a greater supply of workers, it would put more money in the pockets of the public.

If there were more barbers, they would have to compete for business and lower their prices. Likewise, more cosmetologists would mean cheaper trips to the salon. And if more plumbers and electricians were competing for business, they’d have to charge reasonable prices. The same is true of many other skilled labor positions.

Not only would consumers save money, but workers would also benefit from increased wages and hold on to their hard earned money.

There are so many jobs that do not need occupational licenses, or states should require less hours and fees. People go into debt or waste time with learning requirements that are unrelated to their job. For example, in Utah, when veterinarians have to renew their licenses in 2024 and beyond, they will be required to take a diversity class. What on earth does diversity have to do with taking care of animals?

Why would children’s entertainers such as magicians need a license in the first place? They are magicians, and it is not like they are nurses who are trying to save your child’s life.

Why do three states and the District of Columbia require interior designers to pay thousands in fees with years of education and experience? Most other states do not require this.

Why does it take over a thousand hours in many states to become a barber, but only over 100 hours to become an emergency medical technician (EMT)? One would expect performing medical or public safety functions to have more training hours than cutting hair.

More occupational licenses have cost the United States millions of jobs along with a cost to consumers at around billions of dollars a year. It is clear that having more workers will end up reducing costs for consumers, but it will also end up easing barriers for workers. It is a win-win situation.

States have also revoked licenses of workers who cannot pay their student loans. Cost of living is already so expensive that taking away someone’s license to work will cause them to struggle even more. How can someone pay their loans if they cannot work? The government has been trying to find solutions to student debt, yet they take away many workers’ means of making money? The government can be absolutely unfair.

Another way to help workers combat inflation is by enabling more licensing reciprocity between states will save workers time and money to get a license in another state. It will also help fill labor shortages. In 2020, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would require state, territorial, or tribal governments to issue licenses to those who are in good standing and already hold a license for their area of discipline. Since then, more states have moved closer to universal occupational licensing, but a lot of work still needs to be done. This can especially be helpful for military families who are usually moving around every 2-3 years.

Cutting back on licensing can make life more affordable for everyone and even combat inflation. I wish it was an issue people would care more about as it does not only affect workers but also consumers.

I Recommend Checking Out the Following:

• Sign this petition: Fix Tennessee’s Anti-Woman Licensing Laws
• Policy Focus: Solutions To Occupational Licensing Challenges
• Watch Losing the License: Reforming Occupational Licensure: