Criticism of Senate Bill 354 Unfounded

By TONY WEST

SB 354 will reduce unnecessary occupational licensing and create more jobs and opportunities for Georgians. There is a perverse incentive in government to make licensing requirements more costly and difficult than they otherwise should be, and Senator Larry Walker should be applauded for taking on this issue.

Research shows that Georgia has burdensome licensing laws for the beauty and barbering industry. Many aspiring beauty workers are being required to pay for and sit through training on services they don’t even want to do. The average cost to attend cosmetology school in Georgia is $17,569, and the state requires more than 1,100 hours of training.

Research further shows that 75 percent of students do not graduate on time. Pushing unnecessary schooling and student loan debt on people is simply bad public policy, when common sense says the safe services shouldn’t require it. SB 354 addresses two safe and limited beauty services, blow-dry styling and makeup application. The existing licensure requirements for these far exceed the state’s licensing requirements for many other occupations, including those that have a direct link to health and safety. For example, Georgia requires hairstylists to complete ten times the hours of training that the state requires for emergency medical technicians. Licensing burdens like these do not make sense and create needless barriers to entry for Georgians simply seeking to earn a living.

Some folks have written that by removing these licensure requirements it will somehow incentivize illegal immigrants to move to Georgia. However, Georgia already requires employers to verify the legal status of anyone applying for a job—regardless of whether it’s a licensed job or not. If current laws for employers aren’t strict enough, that’s a separate discussion altogether. We don’t want to use occupational license laws to enforce immigration. All that does is harm law-abiding Georgians.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. For years, Georgia has exempted hair braiding and shampooing from licensure, to the benefit of many Georgians seeking to make ends meet. If there has been a large swell of non-citizens shampooing and braiding hair illegally in Georgia, I must have missed it. Furthermore, people are already able to apply make up without a license on film sets and at retail counters. But be your own entrepreneur? Nope, government stands in the way.

By the logic of these critics, every job in Georgia would need to be licensed to meet their ridiculous standard, which is of course non-sensical on its face. Border security and immigration policy are of vital importance and I appreciate the passion of these critics, but in the case of SB 354, it’s severely misplaced. If their advice were taken, Georgians would be harmed, with no impact at all on illegal immigrants working. The advice emanating from this quixotic campaign of tilting at windmills should be ignored. Gov. Kemp should sign this bill and Senator Walker should be thanked for his efforts at reducing government red tape and helping Georgians get to work and avoid the disaster of student loan debt.

Tony West is the State Director for Americans for Prosperity Georgia