Wyoming legislature considers universal recognition of occupational licenses

Occupational licensing reform has been one of the hot topics in state legislatures throughout the country for the last five years or so.

What started out as an effort to chip away on excessive or no-longer-needed occupational regulation has turned into a state-by-state, nationwide effort to reform the way that we think about licensing jobs.

Both the Obama and Trump administrations were cheerleaders for state occupational reform efforts, and it seems likely that this will continue to be an effort encouraged by the new Biden administration.

On Tuesday, I was asked to join colleagues from the Institute for Justice and the Goldwater Institute, in providing testimony in support of an amendment to Wyoming’s Senate File 0018. The bill itself makes strides toward major occupational licensing reform, creating a universal recognition framework for military spouses. The amendment, proposed by Rep. Ocean Andrew, would expand that universal recognition to include all persons who would move to Wyoming with licenses from other states, not just those in the military.

A sidenote: the full committee meeting was held via Zoom, and live-streamed to the Wyoming Legislature’s YouTube page. Aside from a few minor technical glitches, the online committee hearing seemed to work well.

The proposed amendment would turn SF0018 into a bill much like Nebraska’s LB263, which we will be testifying in support of in a few weeks. See my testimony below.