Columbus, OH – As the Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee takes up Ohio House Bill 238—a review of Ohio’s occupational licenses requirements—The Buckeye Institute issued a new policy memo (see full text below or download a PDF) urging lawmakers to continue reducing burdensome, unnecessary requirements that hinder careers and make it harder for people to join the workforce.

In Opening Doors III: Occupational Licensing Reform in Ohio, The Buckeye Institute identified 47 licenses that the state should eliminate or reform to make Ohio more economically competitive and to end the permission-slip policies that make it difficult for people to earn a living. This latest policy paper builds on this earlier research.

In the paper, Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, noted that “[n]early one in five Ohio workers are subject to occupational licensing requirements.” Those requirements “limit job opportunities, restrict economic improvement and career choices, impose bureaucratic costs, and effectively act as government permission slips to work in certain professions.”

Lawson applauded the Ohio House for “eliminating the two-year post-secondary education requirement for real estate brokers, and extending license durations and reducing renewal fees for many occupations…to better align with nearby states.” He further noted that lawmakers in the Senate can improve House Bill 238 by “reducing the hours required to obtain cosmetology and barber licenses.”

Under The Buckeye Institute-championed policies in Senate Bill 255, Ohio lawmakers must review and renew Ohio occupational licensing boards at least once every six years, or they will automatically expire. Since Senate Bill 255’s adoption in 2019, Ohio has eliminated or reduced requirements for 55 licenses based on The Buckeye Institute’s recommendations (here and here).

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End Burdensome Occupational License Requirements
Greg R. Lawson
November 13, 2024

The Buckeye Institute’s Recommendation

As recommended by The Buckeye Institute’s Opening Doors III: Occupational Licensing Reform in Ohio and included in Ohio House Bill 238, Ohio lawmakers should continue reducing burdensome, unnecessary occupational licensing requirements.

Background

Nearly one in five Ohio workers are subject to occupational licensing requirements that limit job opportunities, restrict economic improvement and career choices, impose bureaucratic costs, and effectively act as government permission slips to work in certain professions. Such requirements especially burden low-income individuals, minorities, and those with criminal records, discouraging entry into some professions and delaying workforce participation. In Forbidden to Succeed: How Licensure Laws Hold Ohioans Back and Still Forbidden to Succeed The Negative Effects of Occupational Licensing on Ohio’s Workforce, The Buckeye Institute urged lawmakers to reevaluate Ohio’s approach to occupational licensing—encouragement that led to Senate Bill 255, which laid the groundwork for streamlining occupational licensing by requiring the General Assembly to review all occupational licensing boards every six years and sunset any licensing entity that the legislature did not reauthorize.

Ohio House Bill 238, now before the Ohio Senate, builds upon that reform effort. Several provisions echo recommendations made in Opening Doors III, such as eliminating the two-year post-secondary education requirement for real estate brokers, and extending license durations and reducing renewal fees for many occupations, including real estate appraisers and private investigators to better align with nearby states. And those are all steps in the right direction. Legislators can improve House Bill 238 by reducing the hours required to obtain cosmetology and barber licenses. The Buckeye Institute has long argued that Ohio’s 1,500-hour training requirement for cosmetologists—which exceeds Pennsylvania’s mandate by 250 hours and New York and Texas by 500 hours—puts aspiring cosmetologists in Ohio at a significant disadvantage.

Conclusion

Ohio should adopt The Buckeye Institute’s recommended occupational licensing reforms and continue the state’s effort to end the burdensome permission slip policies that hinder careers and limit workforce participation.

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