The House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce examined occupational licensing laws that impact business startups and the overall economy on Wednesday during a hearing.
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) said burdensome licensing requirements hamper the ability of the unemployed and underemployed to start their own businesses.
“During the past five years, economic freedom and entrepreneurial opportunity have declined in America due to burdensome and unnecessary occupational licensing laws,” Hanna said. “For enterprising and motivated individuals to have every opportunity for economic success, we must repeal licensing laws and regulations that slow growth while serving no true public interest. The stories from (Wednesday’s) hearing demonstrate how these laws are creating barriers to entrepreneurship and putting a damper on competition, innovation and prosperity.”
Melony Armstrong, who owns Naturally Speaking Salon & Training Center in Tupelo, Miss., testified that her businesses, and its clients, succeed despite government regulation, not because of it.
“…I have transformed the lives of hundreds of poor women in my state of Mississippi not because I sought out government assistance for them; rather, because I demanded that the government get out of my way so I could provide for myself and for my family, and so other women around me could do likewise in peace, dignity and prosperity,” Armstrong said.
Pacific Legal Foundation Principal Attorney Timothy Sandefur testified that licensing restrictions have been abused by established businesses for centuries as a way to prevent new competition from entering the market.
“This harms consumers and restricts economic opportunity for precisely those who most need it,” Sandefur said. “While these abuses generally take place at the state level, Congress has authority to protect economic freedom and secure the blessings for economic liberty for all.”