Occupational Licensing Is A Costly Burden

Excerpt:

A new report from the Archbridge Institute shows that this is no partisan matter. States under Democratic and Republican rule can and do impose harmful occupational licensing schemes. Indeed, according to the institute, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas have the highest occupational licensing burdens in the nation.  California is ranked by the institute as having the 21st highest licensing burden.

A decade ago, California’s Little Hoover Commission reported on the problems of licensing. “The burden to Californians is significant: Applicants to lower-income licensed occupations — those who earn less than the national average income — on average pay $300 in fees, spend 549 days in education or training and take an exam in order to work. Consumers also bear a burden when the government limits who can practice a profession. Nationally, consumers pay an estimated $200 billion more annually for services due to licensing restrictions,” they reported.

Yet California has made no real movement toward liberalizing its labor market.

Indeed, while most states in the country have implemented some form of universal licensing recognition — that is, allowing workers licensed for occupations in one state to be allowed to work in their state without too many hurdles — California, Oregon, Texas and Tennessee are among those that have not.

Read the full article from the Southern California News Group’s Editorial Board.

Read the 2025 State Occupational Licensing Index report here.