Homepage | Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing

Universal Licensing: A Closer Look

Experts weigh in on the concept of universal licensing, which proposes that a license obtained in one jurisdiction should be valid in any other jurisdiction. While it may seem like a good idea on the surface, the implementation of this policy is complicated and could compromise public protection. State lawmakers should carefully consider the impact of universal licensing before implementing it.

Interstate Practice: Common Pitfalls & How To Get It Right

Interstate practice refers to the ability of professionals to practice across state lines. In this video, licensing experts share examples of how states can responsibly accomplish flexibility and mobility. Lawmakers should consider this guidance as they work to achieve interstate practice for a broader mix of professions and occupations.

The “Three E’s” Explained

The Three E’s – Education, Experience, and Examination – form the bedrock of professional licensing in the United States. These three essential components ensure practitioners possess the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to protect the public and the environment.

The Problem With Anti-Licensing

Anti-licensing is a misguided effort that undermines the vital role of licensing in safeguarding public welfare. This explainer video covers the misconceptions, risks, and potential harm associated with anti-licensing.

Podcast: Why Contractors Should Care About Licensing

Michael J. Armstrong, CEO of NCARB, joins the Art of Construction podcast: Why Contractors Should Care About Licensing.

Listen as Michael explains why contractors should care about the licensing of the architects and engineers they work with, the unintended consequences for the construction industry if architects’ license was weakened or eliminated, the relationship between licensing and winning projects, securing loans, and affording liability insurance, and how contractors and affiliates can join ARPL’s fight for Responsible Professional Licensing.

Op-ed: The Case for Responsible Professional Licensing

Let’s start by saying the quiet part out loud: There are differences between us. We represent different political parties in the Illinois House of Representatives. We live in different parts of our state. But in these polarized times, we think it is important to look deeper and notice our similarities.

As legislators, we both seek to create new opportunities for hard-working families and help the Land of Lincoln get ahead. And as two certified public accountants, we know our profession plays a vital role in upholding the integrity of our country’s financial system. This is why we both believe that rigorous licensing for professions with high public impact like ours is critical to the public’s physical and financial well-being.

Across the country, lawmakers are looking for ways to boost state economies and ease the pressures of inflation. Overly broad licensing “reform” has emerged as a popular proposal, with special-interest groups casting it as a silver bullet to solve statewide workforce and economic development challenges. These bills aim to weaken, and sometimes outright eliminate, licensing requirements across state lines. Some of these lowlights would make it possible for almost anyone to enter into a state practice, regardless of whether they meet minimum professional qualifications. Other proposals relating to licensing include so-called “consumer beware” bills that would leave costly litigation and bad customer reviews as the only options for redress after harm has occurred.

These misguided proposals jeopardize the public and disadvantage hardworking professionals, especially those who have served the public well for decades and whose qualifications will be effectively nullified if passed into law. There is a much better way to approach licensing reform.

Through our work in the Illinois General Assembly, we have played a role in crafting and passing licensing reform. Licensure is complex, and if led down the wrong path, even well-intended elected officials can cause more harm than good. Poorly conceived licensing bills threaten existing systems that work and serve the public and the business community well.

The truth is that many licensure models already address the most common concerns around licensure, including mobility, minimum qualifications, examination and military spousal relocation. Like other states, Illinois has embarked on a heightened review of occupational and professional licensing. As is often the case with complex legislation, the devil lives in the details — or lack thereof.

Unlike some proposals under consideration in our region of the country, Illinois’ laws do not diminish rigorous qualifications for highly complex, technical professions such as certified public accounting, engineering, architecture, surveying and landscape architecture.

In one extreme case, another state’s proposed law would have eliminated the ability to change examination requirements to reflect changes in codes, standards and the evolution of the profession. Other proposals would damage existing models that have served residents of those states well.

Fortunately, Illinois chose a different route. Our laws carefully identified and lowered barriers in licensing systems for specific occupations that could either prevent or make it difficult for re-entry and low-wage workers.

In 2021, for example, we both voted in favor of H.B. 5576, a “sunset review” bill enacted to require Illinois to collect data on all licensed professions and occupations and determine whether those requirements should be modified. It should be viewed as a framework for the nation on how state policymakers can eschew burdensome legislation to introduce balanced, rational and methodical approaches to reform the regulatory process.

Bills such as H.B. 5576 do not diminish the need for occupational and professional licensing, but they do relay a clear statement that a broad-brush, one-size-fits-all approach to reform is not in the best interest of the public or licensed professionals.

Unfortunately, we must acknowledge the trend of other states that are heading down the wrong path and avoiding common-sense solutions. We caution lawmakers to not rush down a path, paved by hardliners whose flawed proposals create new problems for constituents and do not take into account the public perception of licensure as necessary and beneficial. Public opinion data shows us that voters, regardless of gender, race, income or job role, recognize the value of uniform licensing requirements for professions like ours with high public impact.

Constituents are best served through smart policy that leads to meaningful improvements in licensing systems that benefit licensed professionals and the public we all serve. Despite our differences, we are united to convey how important it is for lawmakers to get licensing reform right and look toward proven models that have served the public well.

Amy Elik is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives. Natalie Manley is a Democratic member of the Illinois House. Both are certified public accountants.

Op-ed published in Governing.com:

https://www.governing.com/now/the-dangerous-push-to-downgrade-professional-licensing?_amp=true

Louisiana Voters Concerned About Anti-Licensing Effort

New Survey Finds Strong Bipartisan Support for Maintaining Rigorous Professional Licensing Standards

BATON ROUGE – The Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing (ARPL) today announced the results of a survey of Louisiana voters showing they are deeply concerned about anti-licensing proposals being discussed in Baton Rouge during this legislative session. The results also showed widespread public support for maintaining rigorous professional licensing standards for professions that have a clear impact on public health, safety, and welfare.

“An overwhelming, bipartisan majority of Louisiana voters want to protect rigorous professional licensure because it is the best way to safeguard the public’s physical and financial well-being,” said Ron Gitz, Executive Director of the Society of Louisiana CPAs. “Lawmakers in Baton Rouge may wish to consider the views of their constituents as they look at lessening professional licensing requirements.”

The bills look to lessen state licensing requirements for professions and occupations in Louisiana. Some bill provisions would mandate that licensing can only be required after public harm has occurred. They would also do away with minimum qualifications for professionals hired to construct public buildings, bridges, financial systems, and other public infrastructures. Proposals also encourage individuals to file lawsuits if they believe there are too many requirements to practice an occupation or profession.

The survey yielded these findings of Louisianans’ views on the role and value of licensing:

91% of Louisiana voters believe it is important that licensing systems keep consumers and the public safe by establishing standards for professions that impact public health and safety.
91% of Louisiana voters believe it is important that licensing systems ensure that competent, qualified professionals are servicing the public.
90% of Louisiana voters say licensing is important to them because it helps consumers identify qualified professionals and access information about the professionals they hire.
89% of Louisiana voters would be “concerned” if Louisiana eliminated minimum qualifications for engineers, architects, landscape architects, surveyors, and CPAs – including 77% of the public who would be “very concerned” if such legislation passed.

The survey also found significant concern on the part of voters about the downstream effects of weakening or eliminating licensing:

Two-thirds of voters (65 percent) oppose legislation filed in Louisiana that would eliminate professional licensing requirements – and the public assurances they provide – and would mandate that licensing can only be required after public harm has occurred in Louisiana.
A majority of voters (54 percent) say it is a “bad idea” to encourage individuals to file lawsuits if they believe there are too many requirements to practice an occupation or profession, which is exactly what the proposed legislation would do.
A majority of voters (55 percent) believe that eliminating licensing would make it harder for Louisiana businesses to know if their employees are qualified, putting them at greater risk and liability for bad work performed by unqualified employees.
Two-thirds of voters (64 percent) believe that eliminating minimum qualifications assured through licensing would put consumers at greater risk of harm from unqualified practitioners in Louisiana.

“Louisiana voters recognize that rigorous professional licensure is the most effective way to protect the public’s overall health, safety, and welfare,” said David Cox, CEO of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). “The ideas being talked about in Baton Rouge will harm Louisiana businesses and erode consumer confidence in professions with high public impact. Allowing a flood of confusing, costly new lawsuits is a poor substitute for smart, established professional licensure. Voters understand this and are wary when they hear about such proposals.”

Access the survey’s key findings and executive summary here.

Background:

ARPL is a unique coalition that brings together professional organizations and their licensing boards at a time when there is significant concern over the appropriate level of licensing required by law. The coalition was formed to ensure their voices are heard by policymakers and the public amid the growing debate around licensing. You can learn more about the Alliance and the importance of professional licensing at www.responsiblelicensing.org.

ARPL members include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB), National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).

Advantage, Inc. surveyed 600 Louisiana voters from March 23 to March 28, 2022

###

For ARPL media inquiries, please contact Joe Sangiorgio by email at jsangiorgio@craftdc.com or by phone at 1-202-550-2709

New Survey: Louisiana Public Opinion of Professional Licensing

In March 2022, legislation was filed in Louisiana to significantly weaken licensing standards for professionals working in the state. Proponents of this legislation vastly overestimate the effect anti-licensing would have on jobs and the economy and dangerously underestimate the effect it would have on consumers and the public at large.

What has been completely lost in this anti-licensing effort and others like it across the country is the perspective of the public, who relies on the work of qualified licensed professionals to keep them safe. To better understand the public’s attitudes toward professional licensing – and proposed efforts to weaken it – ARPL commissioned an independent survey of 600 Louisiana voters.

Click here to download an executive summary of the research findings.

FACT CHECK: The Myths of Anti-licensing

Time and again, calls for anti-licensing return to a handful of myths and purported problems that can only be solved by drastically weakening or outright eliminating licensing. Let’s take a closer look at those myths and set the record straight.

Download FACT CHECK: The Myths of Anti-licensing.

Op-ed: The Dangerous Push to Downgrade Professional Licensing

As governors and state legislators work to boost the economy in the face of inflation, supply-chain disruptions and lingering challenges from the coronavirus pandemic, the issue of licensing reform is once again coming to the fore.

It is disappointing but not surprising that a small but vocal group of hardliners, backed by wealthy and powerful special interests, is trying to convince state lawmakers that the silver bullet for these challenges is to downgrade professional licensing across the board.

To hear them tell it, these proposals would eliminate barriers to entry into the workforce and provide an economic boon to workers, especially women and people of color. However, their pitch crumbles upon contact with reality — notably the latest economic research on the subject.

Case in point: The Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing, for which I serve as executive director, partnered with an internationally recognized research firm, Oxford Economics, to analyze all professions and occupations in the U.S. and found that licensing is associated with 6.5 percent higher wages on average.

The report also found that women and minorities in job fields requiring advanced education and training (architects, CPAs, engineers, landscape architects and surveyors, among others) benefit significantly from licensing. For these workers, the results show that a license narrows the gender-driven wage gap by about one-third and the race-driven wage gap by about half.

The report makes clear that licensing impacts professions, occupations and populations differently and is a clear driver of higher wages and stronger economies. It lays out a bevy of red flags to lawmakers and policy-setters who are considering overbroad legislation to roll back their state licensing programs.

The anti-licensing crowd consistently fails to make the critical distinction between occupational licensing and professional licensing. Occupations are significantly different from professions with high public impact such as architects, CPAs, engineers, landscape architects and surveyors. As such, the licensing systems governing professions are more rigorous and should not be diluted in the name of “reform.” One size does not fit all. It is this persistent failure to tell unlike things apart that ends up harming the very people the proposals purport to help.

If anti-licensing measures eliminate a pathway for success and a more even playing field, surely there must be some good these measures deliver? Unfortunately, no. The same proposals that would take away a powerful equalizer for opportunity and earning also put consumers and the public at risk.

It is no accident that during their most recent legislative session, West Virginia lawmakers rejected a so-called “universal licensing” bill after outcry from their constituents about its deleterious consequences. The defeat of this bill marks the third time in three years that Mountain State lawmakers have rejected this type of anti-licensing proposal. In recent years, lawmakers from Wisconsin to Arizona have also flirted with the idea of weakening or eliminating professional licensing, only to pull back such proposals when they realized the tremendous risk they would pose to their constituents.

Most Americans recognize the critical role that licensing and licensing boards play in protecting the public. A 2020 survey conducted by Benenson Strategy Group found that 75 percent of voters believe that it is important to ensure qualifications for professionals in certain industries. A majority of voters believes that current professional licensing requirements protect the public and should not be reformed, and more than 70 percent believe that it’s important to regulate professionals in accounting, engineering, architecture, landscape architecture and related fields with high impact on the public’s health, safety and welfare.

This public sentiment is why so many lawmakers are rightly wary of the anti-licensing proposals being floated in their statehouses. Time and again we have seen that such a broad-brush policy not only does not work but actually harms the people it claims to help: working professionals and the public at large.

Marta Zaniewski is executive director of the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing and vice president for state regulatory and legislative affairs at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Op-ed published in Governing.com:

https://www.governing.com/now/the-dangerous-push-to-downgrade-professional-licensing?_amp=true