Utah has made huge strides in reducing the burden placed on businesses by occupational licensing requirements, according to a revised study from the Institute of Justice (IJ), a national nonprofit, public interest law firm. When the study was first released, Utah ranked 13th in the nation for burdensome regulations associated with the licensing of various occupations. In the latest version, the state has dropped to 50th.
Gov. Gary R. Herbert attributes the massive improvement to collaborative efforts by the Utah Legislature and executive branch. The new ranking reflects changes to the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing’s contractor and mobile home installer statutes. Utah’s ranking in the national IJ study comes from a sample of lower-income occupation licensing requirements.
“For the past decade, I have directed our executive branch agencies to reduce unnecessary business regulation by reviewing what is on the books and actively looking for opportunities to cut red tape,” said Herbert. “At the same time, our Utah State Legislature has taken a proactive role in reducing regulatory burdens that do little to protect the public. I am proud of Utah’s collective efforts to identify changes that address the growing needs of our workforce to support our state’s continued economic success.”
In 2017, the Institute for Justice published the second edition of “License to Work: A National Study of Burdens from Occupational Licensing.” The study documents the licensing requirements for 102 lower-income occupations across 50 states and the District of Columbia, ranking states according to the extent of such licensing laws and the burdens they represent for aspiring workers. Prior to the report’s publication, Utah scaled back licensing requirements for various subcontractors covered in the study, dropping a two-year experience requirement and eliminating two exams. In early 2018, IJ updated its data and rankings to reflect those reforms.
“Because contractors represent a large number of occupations in ‘License to Work,’ Utah’s 2017 reforms easing licensing for various subcontractors had a sizable effect on Utah’s rankings in our study,” said Lisa Knepper, a co-author of report and an IJ director of strategic research. “Specifically, the reforms took Utah from the 15th ‘most extensively and onerously licensed state for moderate-income occupations’ to the 24th. And Utah’s pre-reform ranking as the state with the 13th ‘most burdensome licensing laws for moderate-income occupations’ improved to 50th, making Utah the second-least-burdensome state for the 102 occupations we studied.”
“Utahns are already benefiting from these deeply positive reforms to professional licensing, thanks to the hard work of many government and community partners,” said Lt. Gov. Spencer J. Cox. “Our administration is committed to continuing improvements on all fronts to protect and empower Utahns in our workforce.”
Department of Commerce executive director Francine Giani echoed Herbert and Cox in praising Utah’s ranking: “It is awesome to see what is possible when you bring together the combined talents and perspective of our governor and Utah Legislature who recognize the importance of never being satisfied with status quo reform. The Department of Commerce and our divisions will continue to protect the public and identify undue commerce roadblocks.”
In addition to the 2017 reform, the 2019 Utah legislative session passed 23 bills related to the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL) to change and/or reduce the burden to entry across dozens of professions, according to a release from the Department of Commerce. Utah is one of 11 states participating in a national licensing review coalition. Utah’s state team includes both legislative and executive branch team members, assisted by the National Governor’s Association, National Conference of State Legislatures and the Council of State Governments. The coalition’s work is funded through a US Department of Labor grant. The state consortium will continue its work through 2019, the department said.