AB351 (Occupational Licensing)
Testimony in Support re: Assembly Bill 351 – Assembly Commerce & Labor Committee
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
12:30pm
My name is Daniel Honchariw. I represent the Nevada Policy Research Institute as its senior policy analyst and registered lobbyist.
NPRI supports Assembly Bill 351 because it represents a lessening of Nevada’s onerous and arbitrary professional-licensing requirements. This bill specifically concerns shampoo technologists, but its principles and intent can and should be applied across the wide range of industries which pose virtually no risk of harm to the public, yet are nonetheless subject to licensing in Nevada.
According to the Institute for Justice, Nevada has the second-most-burdensome licensing laws among all 50 states, and requires licenses for 75 of the 102 low-income professions studied.[1]
Too often, such strict licensure requirements serve no legitimate public policy purpose and, instead, simply protect existing industries from new competition. This raises costs for consumers and, most perniciously, makes it harder for those at the lower-end of the income spectrum to find gainful employment.
AB351 is a commonsense reform that will lessen the barrier to employment for those just starting-off in their careers. We hope this bill serves as a template to be applied against other licensing boards in Nevada, especially those governing lower-income professions.
We thank this committee for hearing AB351 and encourage its swift passage, as written.
[1] Dick M. Carpenter, Lisa Knepper, Kyle Sweetland, & Jennifer McDonald, “License to Work: A National Study of Burdens from Occupational Licensing (2nd Edition),” Institute for Justice, November 2017, available at https://ij.org/wp-content/themes/ijorg/images/ltw2/License_to_Work_2nd_Edition.pdf