The Georgia Public Policy Foundation was joined by the Georgians First Commission in Savannah to host “License to Work,” an event focused on occupational licensing and permitting reform. The groups chose to host their event in Savannah as it is the site of some of the latest occupational-licensing reform changes.
In May of this year, a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional for Savannah to require tour guides to obtain a special license. The Institute for Justice filed a lawsuit in 2014, arguing that the law violated the basic right of tour guides to talk for a living. Guides that wanted the license had to pass a 100-question multiple choice exam on Savannah history, even if the tour in question had no relation to Savannah history. Think a “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” tour discussing James Oglethorpe.
“Almost half a million Georgians need the government’s permission to pursue their chosen career. That’s bad enough, especially considering that some of these occupations represent the first rungs of the economic ladder for people trying to make a living for themselves and their families,” Kyle Wingfield, president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation told IAG. “But it adds insult to injury for the government to charge excessive licensing fees and, on top of that, drag its feet in approving licenses — all after hardworking people have spent weeks, months, even years meeting the requirements for those licenses.”
Scott Hilton, the chair for the Georgians First Committee, noted that in Georgia, EMTs require approximately 350 hours of training and cosmetologists require 1500 hours of training. Hilton also noted what some other states are doing as this issue has gotten more attention across the country. “The good news is Georgia licenses the fewest number of people, 489,000. But the 41 different occupations we license puts us in the middle of the pack,” said Hilton.
And the issues are not necessarily just with the requirements for licensure. Critics also point to some of the fees required to do business and the legal hoops some have to jump through. Ashley Jenkins, a longtime Republican activist, noted that the tax on the 178 types of licenses across 41 licensing boards generates between $30M -$40M in fees for service, yet the legislature only allocates $8M back to the professional licensure board division and the rest goes into the general fund. The rules for occupational licensing are through the Secretary of State and spread across 2 titles, more than 30 chapters and 768 separate provisions.
According to the Institute of Justice, one of the most prominent think thanks working in this area, Georgia is the 34th “most broadly and onerously licensed state” – not a bad ranking overall. But it could be better. Many of these licensed occupations are on the lower income scale and Georgia requires an average of $185 in fees, 464 days of education or experience and about two exams.
“Our lawmakers need to look at eliminating or reducing the requirements where practical and, in those cases where a license is justified, make sure red tape and exorbitant fees aren’t keeping people from getting to work,” added Wingfield.
Hilton and the Georgians First Commission are looking at a number of areas besides this one with the goal of making more competitive in attracting new business, or making it easier to expand existing business. The commission is preparing a report for Governor Brian Kemp and the results within it may make some appearances during the next legislative session.
