Missouri Hair Braiders

[Pertinacious Tom]

In other news, the horror of unlicensed tour guides continues to expand
 

This morning, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled unanimously that Charleston, S.C., violated the First Amendment by making it illegal for anyone to give paid tours of the city without obtaining a special license. The ordinance, which was first struck down by a South Carolina trial court in 2018 in response to a lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice (IJ), had required guides to prove they mastered a 500-page manual recounting the facts city leaders deemed most important. Today’s ruling affirms that the 2018 ruling was correct and that the ordinance violated the First Amendment.

“In this country, we rely on people to decide who they want to listen to rather than relying on the government to decide who gets to speak,” said IJ Senior Nutjob  Arif Panju. “Charleston’s law was unconstitutional because it got that important principle exactly backwards.”

...

I can't believe they bothered to appeal the original decision but am glad to see another win despite the nutjob legal representation.

 

[chinabald]

In Michigan to be a Barber

Applicants for a barber license must be at least 17 years of age, satisfactorily complete 1,800 hours of coursework at a licensed barber college, pass an examination approved by the board and the department, must have completed at least the tenth grade of school or possess an equivalent education, and be of good moral character.

To be a cosmetologist which does not allow you to use clippers when cutting hair 

To become licensed as a cosmetologist an individual must be at least 17 years of age, be of good moral character, have an education equivalent to the completion of the ninth grade, have completed either not less than 1,500-hour course study in a licensed school of cosmetology, or have served as an apprentice for not less than 2 years in a licensed cosmetology establishment in which hair care services, skin care services and manicuring services are offered and have successfully passed an examination prescribed by the board and the department.

Or according to our Governor you can just google how to cut hair. https://wwjnewsradio.radio.com/media/audio-channel/governor-whitmer-if-you-really-need-a-haircut-google-it

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

In Michigan to be a Barber

Applicants for a barber license must be at least 17 years of age, satisfactorily complete 1,800 hours of coursework at a licensed barber college, pass an examination approved by the board and the department, must have completed at least the tenth grade of school or possess an equivalent education, and be of good moral character.

To be a cosmetologist which does not allow you to use clippers when cutting hair 

To become licensed as a cosmetologist an individual must be at least 17 years of age, be of good moral character, have an education equivalent to the completion of the ninth grade, have completed either not less than 1,500-hour course study in a licensed school of cosmetology, or have served as an apprentice for not less than 2 years in a licensed cosmetology establishment in which hair care services, skin care services and manicuring services are offered and have successfully passed an examination prescribed by the board and the department.

Or according to our Governor you can just google how to cut hair. https://wwjnewsradio.radio.com/media/audio-channel/governor-whitmer-if-you-really-need-a-haircut-google-it

Other than the age thing and requiring 1,800 hours instead of 1,500, the requirements to be a barber look pretty similar to the requirements to be an Air Transport Pilot. You can google how to fly passengers around in jets too.

 

[frenchie]

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

That seems like a pretty reasonable number for the police but the hairdressing thing just looks like protectionism/cronyism that only benefits license holders and their political cronies at the expense of more choices and lower prices for consumers.

I can't recall exactly but I had somewhere around 250 flight hours when I started as a flight instructor. Let that fly over your house with a student at the controls and hope it doesn't sink in.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Lawsuit to force Montana to become Somalia
 

In almost every state, when you get sick and visit your doctor, you can obtain prescribed medications right there in the doctor’s office—a practice known as “doctor dispensing.” But not in Montana, which bans most doctors from dispensing medications. Dr. Carol Bridges, Dr. Cara Harrop and Dr. Todd Bergland want to use doctor dispensing to improve care and save patients money. Today, they partnered with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to file a lawsuit in Missoula County District Court challenging Montana’s ban on doctor dispensing.

This ban isn’t about patient safety; it’s about protecting the profits of pharmacies.

...

“As a family doctor, one of my first priorities is ensuring my patients get the treatment they need to start feeling better,” said Dr. Bridges. “Dispensing medications in my office, at cost, is one simple way to do that. This law just makes it harder for me to do my job.”

Montana’s ban on doctor dispensing is the exception nationally, not the rule. In 44 states and the District of Columbia, doctor dispensing is legal and most doctors report doing it.

...

Montana’s ban is not the only example of one group using the power of government to keep another group from competing in the medical field. In 2019, IJ challenged a similar doctor-dispensing ban in Texas, where doctors are prohibited from dispensing unless they work in certain “rural” areas more than 15 miles from a pharmacy. IJ is also challenging certificate of need (CON) laws for healthcare services in Iowa, North Carolina, Kentucky and Nebraska.

These challenges are made possible by IJ’s other landmark victories. In 2015, IJ struck a blow against unreasonable economic regulations in Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation when the Texas Supreme Court struck down the state’s licensing requirements for eyebrow threading. In that case, the court held that economic regulations must further a legitimate public end in a non-oppressive manner.

...

Eyebrow threading? I'm not even sure what that is but it sure sounds like something that requires at least a thousand hours of training.

I hope the Texas and Montana suits go well but it didn't go so well the last time the nutjobs at IJ took on Big Pharma in Kelo vs New London.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

FL Legislature Approves Becoming Somalia

Our tourist season isn't quite over, but it's quite over due to the panicdemic. People are already starting to need to think about new occupations and the last thing they need is a protectionist barrier. I hope the Governor signs it soon.

FL Governor Signs Somalian Reforms Into Law
 

Thousands of Floridians will find it easier to work now with Gov. Ron DeSantis signing HB 1193, the Occupational Freedom and Opportunity Act. The historic law repeals more occupational licensing laws than any licensing reform ever passed by any other state. The Institute for Justice (IJ), which advocates for licensing reform nationwide, applauds the governor and legislators on a well-timed move that should have lasting effects on workers in the Sunshine State.

“The outlook for jobs and entrepreneurship is brighter in the Sunshine State today,” said IJ Florida Office Managing Nutjob Justin Pearson. “Now is the time to clear away the red tape that has stood in the way of Floridians looking for new opportunities. That is precisely what this much-needed reform does.”

All told, the new law either repeals or reforms over 30 licenses, including by reducing required educational hours for certain licenses. Highlights of the bill include:

• Waiving the requirements of the Commercial Driver License for military service members with similar training and experience.
  
• Exempting all hair braiders (including African-style hair braiders), nail technicians, hair wrappers, body wrappers, makeup artists, boxing announcers and boxing timekeepers from being required to obtain a license.
  
• Creating universal recognition for barbers and cosmetologists licensed in other states.
  
• Reducing required educational hours for cosmetology specialists and full barbers’ licenses.
  
• Reforming, reducing or narrowing licensing requirements for landscape architects, diet coaches, certain types of construction subcontractors, alarm system installers and geologists.
  
• Preventing the state from suspending licenses over unpaid student loans.
  

The law also includes a provision preventing Florida cities from banning food trucks or requiring operators to obtain an additional local license or pay additional fees in order to vend. Florida is the third state to create such a law, following in the steps of California and Arizona.

One reform IJ sought for nearly a decade was included: eliminating the interior design license. In 2009, three women filed a federal lawsuit with IJ challenging the constitutionality of the license, which required six years of education and experience and a two-year apprenticeship. Florida was one of only six states to license the occupation. Our suit didn’t eliminate all the requirements, but it did highlight the burdens of licensing. The required license has been replaced with a simpler registration requirement that allows registrants to offer more services.

...

Glad to see the horror of unregulated hair braiding spread some more.

Years of training for interior design? Glad to see that gone too, but I question even the need for a registration. If I want to pay someone to tell me what would look good inside a building, who is harmed by letting me just do it?

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Pennsylvania To Turn Into Somalia
 

More than two dozen licensing boards in Pennsylvania will no longer be able to use vague "good character" provisions to block individuals with criminal records from getting permission to work in the state thanks to sweeping occupational licensing reforms signed into law last week by Gov. Tom Wolf (D).

The reforms will provide new economic opportunities for Pennsylvanians who have previously been convicted of a crime. Those individuals will now be able to pursue work as barbers, cosmetologists, accountants, and various other fields.

"Arbitrarily denying someone a job license because of outdated rules against
criminal records is wrong," Wolf said in a statement. He said the bill would benefit "skilled workers, their employers, and the economy for all of us."

The bill cleared the Democratic-controlled state House and Republican-controlled state Senate with bipartisan support—yet another indication that licensing reform is an area of bipartisan agreement in a political environment where few good things can be described that way.

...

Glad to see some of the rare blessed bipartisan unity that I actually support!

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Missouri still working on becoming Somalia
 

New legislation signed by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Monday will make it much easier for out-of-state workers and people with criminal records to become licensed in their chosen field. By imposing significant costs in terms of time and money, licensing laws often create substantial hurdles to worker mobility and prisoner reentry. For instance, according to a 2017 report by the Institute for Justice, the average license for lower- and middle-income occupations in Missouri requires paying $179 in fees, finishing 348 days of training and experience, and passing one exam. 

In order to ease these barriers to work, under HB 2046, anyone who has had an out-of-state license for at least one year can apply for an equivalent license in Missouri. Sponsored by state Rep. Derek Grier, the new law also repeals provisions that greatly limited the effectiveness of the state’s prior license recognition: It scraps a requirement that only allowed recognition to licenses with “substantially similar” requirements as well as a provision that enabled licensing boards to deny waivers based on a vague belief that granting a license to an out-of-state worker would “endanger the public health, safety, or welfare.”

HB 2046 follows in the footsteps of Arizona, which became the first state to enact universal recognition for out-of-state licenses last year. But unlike the Arizona law, Missouri’s license recognition doesn’t impose a residency requirement on newcomers, letting out-of-state licensees apply for a new Missouri license before they move. 

“Workers don’t lose their job skills just by moving across state lines, but licensing laws often treat them as if they do,” said Institute for Justice Legislative Nutjob Meagan Forbes. “HB 2046 is a common-sense reform that will help expand economic opportunity by making it easier for people to move to Missouri to further their careers.”

HB 2046 also contains the Fresh Start Act, which will ease many licensing restrictions that block otherwise qualified ex-offenders from working. Today, roughly one in three Americans has a criminal record of some kind, while in 2018 alone, almost 20,000 people were released from prison in Missouri.

...

It would be a terrible tragedy if those 20,000 people were able to go to work.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Florists, Casket Sellers, and Eyebrow Threaders Oh My!

 

[Rok Dog]

It’s political.  Nothing else.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Occupational $peech and the First Amendment
 

One major area in which IJ litigates concerns regulations of occupational speech. That is, regulation of speech that occurs in the course of a profession. Some regulations of speech within occupations can makes sense—especially when there is a large power and knowledge differential between the professional and client and when this differential can cause significant harm. For example, in some cases between lawyers and clients or doctors and patients.

...

But much more often, legislators and bureaucrats enact regulations restricting what people can say in the course of careers that do not present the same type of potential harms as do lawyers and doctors. For example, some localities license tour guides. The main job of a tour guide is to speak. Thus, the licensing of tour guides is actually the licensing of speech.

IJ has challenged tour guide licensing schemes in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., New Orleans, Savannah, and Charleston as a violation of the First Amendment. Three of the courts agreed and struck down these licensing schemes. One dismissed the case. But one upheld the scheme as a valid exercise of government power.

In June 2014, the Fifth Circuit heard a challenge to New Orleans’ tour guide licensing scheme. This scheme included a written examination and a drug test, and the applicant could not have been convicted of a felony within the preceding five years.

...

Hmmm... Nawlins is such a delightfully sleazy place that it seems to me they should require, not prohibit, a recent felony conviction for tour guides.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

NY Dems push for law mandating 500 hours of training for ‘shampoo assistants’
 

...A new bill moving through the State Assembly and Senate will require “shampoo assistants” working in hair salons to complete a minimum of 500 hours of a 1,000-hour course in cosmetology. The completion of 500 hours will entitle applicants to a newly established “Shampoo Assistant Certificate.”

...

Cosmetology school isn’t cheap, with programs in New York running around $13,000. “The evidence points to this being a barrier to entry that favors existing cosmetologists and the cosmetology schools,” MacDonald said.

...

When asked for comment, a rep for Assemblywoman Woerner directed The Post to Todd Garofano, executive director of the Salon & Spa Professionals of NYS — which pushed the bill.

“I presented the idea to Assemblywoman Woerner’s office,” Garofano told The Post, defending the measure. Garofano said the shampoo assistant role was a gray area within current state law and his hope was to create a legal framework so salon owners could hire them without fear.

“There are people in the state right now who have hired ‘shampoo assistants’ who are being fined now for doing it. It takes it above board, makes it legitimate,” Garofano said.

John Vezza, whose family has owned Astor Hair in New York City for 75 years dismissed that claim, saying he currently employed “a few” shampoo assistants — all of whom would be out of work if the law passed.

“Nobody is going to hire a shampoo assistant. You will eliminate the job immediately,” he told The Post. “A 10-year-old kid would be qualified enough to wash someone’s hair.”

The "defense" offered by the Salon & Spas lobbyist amounts to "at least we're making sure they don't have to complete 1,000 hours of training."

Mr. Vezza says this is BS but even if true it's ridiculous. Like lots of the occupational licensing examples in this thread, it seems to me more about crony capitalism protecting existing license holders from competition. I just don't believe that NY'ers are so friggin' stupid that they need 500 hours of training to shampoo hair in order to protect public health.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Tennessee Becoming Somalia
 

When the state of Tennessee told Elias Zarate in 2017 that he could no longer be a barber, it wasn't because he'd accidentally hurt a customer or because he gave bad haircuts.

It was simply because he didn't have a high school diploma.

Zarate had dropped out of high school to take care of his orphaned younger siblings and eventually landed a job as a barber in Memphis, even though he wasn't licensed. When the state's barbering cops busted Zarate for working without a permission slip from the proper bureaucratic authorities, he tried to get the proper license, only to discover that before he could pursue a career doing the thing he was already doing, he'd first have to backtrack and finish high school.

That didn't make much sense to Zarate, and last week the Tennessee Chancery Court** confirmed as much. In an order granting summary judgment in favor of Zarate, the court declared Tennessee's requirement that barbers have at least a high school education "unconstitutional, unlawful, and unenforceable," and imposed a permanent injunction against its enforcement.

"The government shouldn't stand between Elias and the career he loved just because he didn't graduate high school," says Braden Boucek, vice president of legal affairs for the Beacon Center of Tennessee, the nutjob nonprofit that backed Zarate's legal challenge. "If emergency personnel don't need to graduate high school to restart the heart of a person who stopped breathing, then you can cut hair without a high school degree. Today's ruling finally righted this injustice."

Indeed, the high school graduation requirement doesn't apply to most other professions in Tennessee. It doesn't apply to cosmetologists, which are regulated in much the same (often excessive) manner as barbers. It doesn't even apply to state lawmakers, who in 2015 added that provision to Tennessee's barbering regulations, Boucek notes.

...

The case is not only a win for Zarate and other GED-less would-be barbers in Tennessee. In striking a small blow against the so-called "rational basis test"—a legal doctrine that allows courts to accept nearly any justification for a government-made regulation as long as officials can provide some rational reason why that rule might exist—the court has sent a message that it won't accept ad hoc justifications for onerous regulations.

...

Apparently Mr. Zarate was already cutting hair for 9 years before regulatory authorities noticed his transgression, so maybe TN already is Somalia?

 

[MR.CLEAN]

What is Somalia code for in Tomworld?

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

What is Somalia code for in Tomworld?

Just having a bit of fun with the "argument" that opposing any regulation, no matter how nonsensical, means "you must oppose any rules at all so move to Somalia."

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Gotcha.  Hard to keep up with the generalizations sometimes.

 

[jocal505]

@Cacoethesic Tom

• What is Dred Scott code for in Tomworld?
  
• What is the NAACP code for in Tomworld?
  
• What is Aussie Apartheid code for in Tomworld?
  
• What is immature and volatile code for in Tomworld?
  
• What is MLK code for in Tomworld?
  
• What is "religious or political assasination" code for in Tomworld?
  

Pretty easy to keep up with the generalizations sometimes. 

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

Pennsylvania Women Prevented From Applying Makeup

[SIZE=11pt]Today, a three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania denied the Cosmetology Board’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two Philadelphia-area women who want to end an unconstitutional requirement that stands in the way of their careers. The Board used Courtney Haveman’s and Amanda Spillane’s past legal problems to deny them the right to work even after each spent hundreds of hours in cosmetology school. Courtney and Amanda, represented by the Institute for Justice (IJ), will now be able to continue the legal challenge to the requirement that applicants prove their “good moral character” before receiving a license.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Courtney and Amanda deserve a fresh start,” said IJ Attorney Andrew Ward. “The Cosmetology Board argued that instead of going to court, they should have re-applied into the same system that treated them so badly the first time. We are grateful that the court rejected that argument. And we’re looking forward to proving that this arbitrary requirement stands in the way of good careers for Courtney, Amanda and many other women in Pennsylvania.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]After spending thousands of dollars on cosmetology school, the Board, citing a “good moral character” requirement, used Courtney’s and Amanda’s past legal problems to deny them the right to work.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] But their past offenses have nothing to do with their ability to work as estheticians—cosmetologists who focus on the beauty and care of the face. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]...[/SIZE]

Just how good does a person's moral character have to be to apply makeup anyway?

I hope the nutjobs at IJ force Pennsylvania to become Somalia on this issue.

Pennsylvania Court Fooled By Nutjobs
 

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled today in favor of two Philadelphia-area women denied licenses by the Pennsylvania Cosmetology Board. The Board, citing a “good moral character” requirement, used Courtney Haveman’s and Amanda Spillane’s long-past legal problems to deny them the right to work even after each spent hundreds of hours in cosmetology school. In December 2018, Courtney and Amanda teamed up with the Institute for Justice to challenge the requirement in state court. Today’s ruling finds that the requirement is unconstitutional since applicants for barber licenses were not subject to the same requirement.

“Today, the court called it ‘absurd’ to make cosmetology applicants prove that they’re good people when barbering applicants don’t have to,” said IJ Nutjob  Andrew Ward. “This decision means fewer people will be denied the right to work because of old convictions that don’t relate to their new jobs.”

...

“I’m overjoyed that the court ruled in my favor,” said Courtney Haveman. “It was devastating to work my way through beauty school only to be told that I wasn’t good enough to have a license. I’m working in a salon right now, but not in the job I trained for. Hopefully, I’ll be able to move into a position that will better support my young son.”

Courtney and Amanda’s case helped prompt the Pennsylvania Legislature to change how licensing boards evaluate applicants’ backgrounds. Those changes will go into effect in December 2020. Today’s ruling brings relief for Courtney and Amanda even sooner.

Even so, laws limiting people previously convicted of a crime, known as “collateral consequences,” remain widespread. Nationwide, there are approximately 30,000 such laws related to employment alone, and they are found at every level of government: local, state and federal. With approximately 1 in 5 Americans required to hold a license to legally work, there are many common occupations from which people with criminal convictions are excluded, making it that much harder for them to find a job and stay out of trouble. A recent report from IJ, Barred from Working, documents these licensing barriers.

“It’s counterproductive to deny people licenses for old crimes unrelated to the jobs they want to do,” said IJ Senior Nutjob Dan Alban. “There’s a growing consensus that harsh laws like these aren’t working and that they contribute to recidivism. It’s good that Pennsylvania will now make it easier for people to get their lives back on track.”

I hope the decision stands and Courtney Haveman can make more money doing what she trained to do.

 

[jocal505]

Pennsylvania Court Fooled By Nutjobs
 

I hope the decision stands and Courtney Haveman can make more money doing what she trained to do. 

In the course of living, and renting, and applying for jobs, even misdemeanants find some pretty serious repercussions. I hope that Courtney Haveman has learned to respect the law these days. I hope she favors and prefers lawful behavior at this time

But I notice that some dummy dings a bell, to summon the many Courtneys to "boating accidents," in seven states. Go go go... with the felonies, for Darwin. 

Poor Courtney, if she follows the wrong influence.