A new study on states' licensing requirements for 102 occupations places Louisiana at the top of the License to Work' list for the number of occupations that must obtain formal licensing from the state. A new study on states' licensing requirements for 102 occupations places Louisiana at the top of the "License to Work" list for the number of occupations that must obtain formal licensing from the state. With Louisiana requiring licenses for 71 of the 102 occupations studied by the nonprofit Institute for Justice law firm, it's no surprise that milk samplers and travel guides are among the workers who need a license to do business in the Bayou State.
But despite the top ranking for the number of licenses required in Louisiana, the Institute for Justice study, which focuses on how licensing barriers impact workers of low or moderate means, Louisiana is near the bottom, ranking 43rd, for how burdensome the license requirements are and how they impact the people trying to obtain them.
The "License to Work" study is touted on the Institute of Justice's website as the first to look at the licensing requirements of all 50 states and subsequently make recommendations on how to remove some of the more onerous requirements:
On average, these licenses force aspiring workers to spend nine months in education or training, pass one exam and pay more than $200 in fees. One third of the licenses take more than a year to earn. At least one exam is required for 79 of the occupations.
Barriers like these make it harder for people to find jobs and build new businesses that create jobs, particularly minorities, those of lesser means and those with less education.
Read more about the study and its findings on Louisiana here.