Occupational licensing Grinch ready to steal opportunities

Published December 8, 2017

By Becki Gray

by Becki Gray, John Locke Foundation and NC SPIN panelist, December 8, 2017.

It’s the holidays. Time for good cheer, glad tidings and songs of the season. Good will to all, peace and joy.

But in North Carolina, a Grinch hides around every corner. He steals opportunity and won’t let people work. The Grinch is occupational licensing. He’s a mean one.

Traveling over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house with a stop at Santa’s shop? Your tour guide must be licensed by the state of North Carolina.

Everyone wants to look their best during the holidays, right? But you can’t do that without a license in North Carolina. Make-up artists, skin-care specialists, cosmetologists, barbers, and manicurists all require a license to make you sparkly and bright for the festivities.

If you need to relax after all the shopping, present wrapping and baking, your massage therapist will need a license to soothe your aching muscles.

In charge of the office Christmas party booze? Be prepared to get a limited special occasion ABC permit, issued to any individual other than the owner of the premises. Is your non-profit holding a holiday fundraiser and selling holiday cheer? You’ll need a $150 permit for that. Are you picking up the booze for the party? If you’re hauling more than 100 liters of unfortified wine or more than 40 liters of fortified wine or liquor, you’ll need a permit for that, assuming you’re not an alcoholic or bootlegger. If so, no permit for you.

If you want to keep those presents under the tree safe from holiday snitches, you’ll need a licensed installer for your security alarm system. Planning on a roaring fire on a frosty night?  You’ll need a licensed fire alarm system installer to ensure you’re not overly toasty. If the heat goes out, you’ll need a licensed HVAC contractor to get that up and running again.

Surely Santa’s safe, right? Hold on to your Christmas cookies. North Carolina dairy laws require that people who sample milk hold a current sampler’s license. Seriously, what good are cookies without milk? If Santa should lock himself out while up on the rooftop, only a licensed locksmith is allowed to get him back in the house. Try the chimney instead? Chimney sweeps don’t have to be licensed, but they can be self-certified.

If you want to preserve glad tidings for the rest of the year with Rudolph’s red nose and antlers over your mantle, you’ll need a licensed taxidermist to help with that.

Don’t pay a neighbor or friend to keep Fido or Tabby while you’re visiting family for the holidays. They have to get a boarding kennel license before that’s allowed.

Good character and moral turpitude are a requirement for many licenses. You may be able to fool Santa Baby, but North Carolina licensing boards know who’s been naughty or nice. Break their rules and you’ll not only get coal in your stocking but hefty fines and a criminal record.

North Carolina’s licensing Grinch is a mean one. He’s the 41st most burdensome in the country, requiring a license for 67 of 102 lower-income occupations. It’s the 17th most broadly and onerously licensed state in the country. People are robbed of opportunities to work, to start businesses, to realize their dreams.

When the tinsel fades, the songs are sung and the egg nog’s been nogged, this Grinch will still be here. Unless someone steps up. It will take strong leadership and commitment to repeal and reform licensing so it works — and allows people to work. Cindy Lou Who changed the Grinch. So can we.

Becki Gray is senior vice president at the John Locke Foundation.

https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion-article/occupational-licensing-grinch-and-ready-to-steal-opportunities/

December 8, 2017 at 10:41 am
Norm Kelly says:

Government LOVES power. Government also HATES competition. Not just with themselves but when some group pays them handsomely to prevent competition, too many politicians are willing to take the bribe and go along with the scam.

Part of my living is earned by installing network cable, Cat6. This is not just low-voltage wiring, but so low that a baby could touch the cable to it's tongue and not be harmed. There have been efforts for years, maybe decades, to have this a licensed task. If it's anything like alarm system installing, this could mean a 3 year apprenticeship with an already licensed installer, then state tests (at significant cost), followed by annual payments to the licensing board to keep the license valid. All of which simply discourages competition. All of which would prevent me from doing this part of my job. And once my competition gets it's foot in the door, I could easily start loosing customers. Just because some person/group decided that government should restrict competition and government doesn't just hate competition but they love the payoff that comes from going along with the scheme.

No, I don't have much respect for politicians that are so easily bribed, so effortlessly deny people from making a living, and who have no idea of or don't care about how their schemes negatively affect anyone for any reason. Most of the time this happens to be demoncrats because they hate competition and love power more than any other single group. If you despise 'the wealthy' because you are a good lib, then you must hate lib pols for their disdain of 'average' people. The average politician on the take doesn't care that I've successfully pulled Cat5E & Cat6 for decades without mishap. If they can take a 'legal' bribe AND get me to pay to stay in business they are perfectly happy. Consequences be damned!

MOST licensing requirements are foolish and should be banned. The proponents of licensing schemes need to be investigated before any new licensing takes place. The original licensure advocates need to be investigated to see why the licensing was put in place to start with when considering repeal. If the proponent benefited from licensure, it's probably a bad idea to require the licensing. If the pol that went along with licensure benefited from the new regulations, then not only should that pol be prosecuted, fined, possibly jailed, but they should be forced to pay retribution or do 'community service'. At the least, these licensure bigots should be removed from office and prevented from public service for the rest of their lives!

We need government to get out of our daily lives! Start treating us like we are actually adults.