Nebraska’s strides on job licensing making national waves
The Platte Institute of Economic Research’s work to reduce the burden of job licensing in Nebraska may be catching on nationally. A recent report by Stateline, the news wing of the Pew Charitable Trusts, features the Platte Institute’s successful effort to repeal job licensing for horse massage practitioners. The job is just one of about a dozen professions for which the Platte Institute has supported reduced barriers to entry since 2016.
The Mercatus Center at George Mason University now reports that Nebraska is one of a handful of states where job licensing has become less restrictive overall in recent years, while the average state has increased their licensing by 4 percent.
Perhaps most importantly, the Platte Institute worked with partners including the Institute for Justice to continue this momentum by advancing comprehensive job licensing reforms with the Occupational Board Reform Act. Under the new law passed in April, each of Nebraska’s nearly 200 job licenses will be reviewed every five years to identify less restrictive forms of regulation. Nebraska is one of the first states to pass such a law.
Other states are taking an interest in creating similar policies. That’s why the Platte Institute and Nebraska state senators in support of the act were invited by the National Conference of State Legislatures to share their experiences with policymakers in other states at a conference on occupational licensing reform. The panel, moderated by Platte Institute’s Adam Weinberg, discussed bipartisan solutions for breaking down barriers to jobs.
