States have too many licensing laws – Orange County Register

In the recently published book “Over Ruled,” Chief Justice Neil Gorsuch and his co-author Janie Nitze highlight several examples of where states and the federal government go too far in regulating our daily lives as Americans.

A striking example highlighted in the book is the case of the hair braiding license. For years, beginning hair braiders had to undergo unnecessary education and training in order to be allowed to work legally.

Today, most states have enacted reforms and made it easier for hair braiders to work (Hawaii, New Mexico, and Wyoming are notable exceptions). While regulatory reform for hair braiders is a significant step forward, not all news is promising. And some states appear to be doing worse than others in restricting professional licensing.

In a recently published report from the Archbridge Institute, we (along with our co-author Sebastian Anastasi) rank states based on the breadth of their occupational licensing laws.

Here are the key findings: First, there are large differences between states in the number of licensed occupations. Texas, a state that prides itself on its economic freedoms, licenses more occupations in our index than any other state. And the gap between Texas and Kansas, the state that licenses the fewest occupations, is quite large. Texas licenses 199 occupations, but Kansas licenses 136. States like Arkansas and Tennessee aren’t that far behind Texas in the number of licensed occupations.

Second, there are significant regional differences in occupational licensing. States in regions such as East and West South Central license many more occupations than states in West North Central and Middle Atlantic.

Additionally, there are a number of professions that are only licensed in one state. When we collected our data, florists were one example. However, as of June 2024, the state of Louisiana has revoked its florist license. However, too many other unique licenses exist. Texas has a unique license for a mold remediation contractor. Rhode Island uniquely licenses lightning protection installers. The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has more unique licenses than any other state, uniquely licensing 13 professions, including public event promoters, public relations specialists, and tire importers.

Finally, our report highlights an important reform we’ve seen in U.S. states over the past decade. A major cost of professional licensing is that the credential is not transferable. In other words, if a licensed barber moves from West Virginia to Alabama, he or she may not be able to continue practicing lawfully unless he or she completes additional training or faces a lengthy processing time.