.jpg)
By Jarrett Skorup | Michigan Capitol Confidential
LANSING — A burdensome licensing apparatus also has been killing jobs in Michigan while doing nothing for public health and safety or consumer protection.
In the past few weeks, Michigan Capitol Confidential has done articles looking at how licensing laws harm state taxpayers trying to earn a living. Some areas covered:
- Painters have to pay hundreds of dollars and take 60 hours of classes and two exams to work.
- Barbers are required to spend 2,000 hours training for the state to grant them the privilege of providing a service.
- Putting up gutters and laying tile will cost you time and money if you want to earn a living.
- Other areas not usually licensed around the nation like floor sanders, alarm installers, glaziers and other alteration contractors.
These are only a few of hundreds of regulations advocated for by special interest groups and put into place by bureaucrats.
The defenders of these rules claim they exist to protect consumers. There are dangers in these occupations, but no more than the myriad dangers one faces in a given day — painting a bedroom and laying down tile have been done around the home by people as long as homeownership has existed.
Those claiming that licensing helps consumers never have the onus to prove it — and they never try.
Read the complete story at Michigan Capitol Confidential
