HB 94: Alternative Pathways to Heavy-Handed Occupational Licensure

This Bill passed the House 67-5 and the Senate 24-1.

Libertas supports this bill.

In a past study, Utah was cited as the 12th most onerously licensed state in the nation. This is a metric that harms free enterprise in our state. We believe that Utahns should have the right to work and engage in their occupation free from government mandates to obtain a permission slip from bureaucrats. Too often, industries seek to create barriers to entry for new practitioners using government regulation via increased occupational licensing requirements. House Bill 94, sponsored by Representative Brian Greene, aims to ensure closer review of these regulations.

The Occupational and Professional Licensure Review Committee is important in reigning in the increase in such licensing regulations and in ensuring that when regulations do exist, they avoid unnecessary intrusions on individual liberty. Expanding the scope of the committee’s work in this area will further help to bring scrutiny on state regulations.

This bill modifies the statute governing the committee that reviews all new requests for state licensure of professions (sunrise reviews). This committee also reviews the sunset provision for statutes that license occupations. The bill aims to broaden the reach of the committee by allowing it to review “any occupational or professional licensure matter” outside of a sunrise or sunset review, and to also conduct sunset reviews for all licensed occupations in the state, no matter the section of code they are licensed under.

Additionally, the bill clarifies that in reviewing the creation (sunrise) of new regulations for occupations, the committee can consider a “less restrictive alternative to licensing, including registration or certification” in order to “avoid unnecessary regulation and intrusion upon individual liberties by the state, while still protecting the health and safety of the public.” These are sound approaches to check occupational licensure in Utah and will help to promote and preserve free enterprise and the right of Utahns to freely pursue their careers.

It is time for Utah to reform its occupational licensure regulations—not just in order to preserve free enterprise, but also to avoid legal liability. Last year we wrote about a Supreme Court ruling that calls into question the actions of licensure boards that restrict competitive markets. In light of this ruling, it is imperative that the legislature expand the role of this review committee.