The Licensing Logjam

Federal lawmakers have been talking about reforming the occupational-licensing regime for years. And despite widespread agreement on the right and left that licensing requirements are often unnecessary and burdensomeâ??—â??serving mainly to limit job opportunities and impede economic growthâ??—â??attempts at reform at the national level have been rare, and those reforms that have been proposed have had little impact. Yet the federal government is far from powerless to help. While it is true that most far-reaching reforms must take place at the state level, there are many ways in which the federal government can reduce licensing barriers nationwide, while paving the way for states to pursue their own reforms.