Occupational licensing boards and commissions are under the microscope in Mississippi
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) -Just because you’re trained to do a certain job doesn’t mean you can start right away. Several professions require a license in Mississippi.
“When government is standing in the way of people working, we’ve got a problem,” explained Secretary of State Michael Watson.
There’s a total of 29 occupational licensing boards and commissions in Mississippi, and Secretary of State Michael Watson’s office is splitting that list up to put a microscope on the red tape they put between people and a license.
“Let’s just take the average. You got roughly 600 regulations that you as a small business person, if you’re working in one of these areas, one of these boards or commissions, you got to overcome 600 regulations just to operate to open your doors,” added Watson. “That’s time-consuming [and] it takes a lot of money. So we want to do all we can to cut those.”
Watson’s office visited one of those boards last week, and they didn’t have enough people there to do their business.
“This is the second time this board did not make quorum,” explained Watson. “And we had a number of licensees or prospective licensees that have been waiting for months for the license, and that’s bad.”
Sen. Jeremy England says he thinks licensing is an issue the legislature should keep a close watch on each year.
“Everybody talks about how important workforce development is,” noted England. “But what we don’t realize is once we get people through certain programs, they may have trouble getting their license.”
He filed a bill in 2021, and a similar House version was passed that removed the requirement for professional licenses for those who offer low-risk beauty services like eyebrow threading.
“We’re keeping people that want to work from working, and we can’t do that here in Mississippi,” added England.