Ohio To Honor Occupational Licenses from Other States
Ohio just took a step to make it easier for people who need a license to work to make a living.
By quietly signing a bill on January 2 that recognizes occupational licenses issued by other states and required by law to practice in various trades and professions, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine reduced the barriers to entry for people already licensed elsewhere to set up shop in Ohio without having to go through the whole onerous licensing process yet again. It’s not a complete fix for a regulatory burden that serves as a barrier to employment and drives up prices for consumers, but it’s a step in the right direction.
The new law was buried in a list of other legislation, camouflaging its importance to those seeking to enter the job market, start a business, or simply move across a state line from one set of rules to another. It doesn’t eliminate licensing requirements—a key reform called for by many economists. But universal recognition of licenses issued in other states lets people jump through the hoops necessary to get permission to work just once rather than multiple times.
“Universal recognition allows a licensed professional to apply for and be quickly granted a license to work based on the training or testing he or she has already completed,” noted the Goldwater Institute, which developed reform legislation with the Institute for Justice. “So long as an applicant has held a valid out-of-state license in good standing for at least one year and does not have any disqualifying criminal history or open complaints, he or she is eligible to receive a similar license under recognition.”
Making licenses portable is enormously important because requirements have proliferated across the country in recent decades. They turn the right to make a living into a privilege doled out by state agencies under the control of existing practitioners who don’t exactly welcome new entrants who challenge them for market share.
“In the 1950s, approximately 5 percent of U.S. workers had an occupational license, meaning they completed additional schooling or training (and paid the necessary fees) and passed an exam to be licensed to practice the profession in a certain state,” Saint Francis University economics professor Edward Timmons pointed out in 2018 for the Harvard Business Review. “Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 23 percent of full-ti
Article from Latest