Occupational therapists who move to North Carolina would have an easier time getting back to work under a bill in the General Assembly. Two bills with significant support would have the state join an interstate compact to recognize occupational therapy licenses in other states. They mark another small step toward removing artificial barriers created by...
A Senate committee passed protection for direct primary care providers and discussed regulatory reforms to prepare hospitals and other health care workers for the second wave of the coronavirus. The Senate Health Care Committee on Thursday, May 28, unanimously passed House Bill 471 to help direct primary care doctors — doctors who take monthly cash...
Editor’s note: Some names in this story have been changed to protect identities. Jane, a Raleigh-based cosmetologist, wanted to keep working when her salon closed March 25. She didn’t know providing in-home manicures was illegal. Last month, Gov. Roy Cooper ordered all hair and nail salons to close as COVID-19 spread in North Carolina. But...
During emergencies, government plays an indispensable role — and that role can certainly include swinging the hammer of more regulation. But not every problem is a nail.
Regulations are hurting veterans’ ability to transition into civilian life in North Carolina, a study by the General Assembly’s Program Evaluation Division says. The division recommended reforming occupational licensing barriers that prevent veterans from working. It proposed draft legislation that would help veterans and military spouses qualify for an occupational license with military training or...
Consumers in places where occupational licensing is stricter, and prices higher, are not more satisfied with the work performed than are consumers in less-regulated places.
A bill allowing for a provisional funeral director license is moving through the Senate with little pushback from lawmakers. But some funeral directors and the N.C. Board of Funeral Service aren’t happy with the measure. House Bill 554, or the Funeral Practice Licensure Technical Corrections bill, unanimously passed the House on April 25 and is...
Republicans and Democrats rarely agree, but in North Carolina the two parties seem to have found some common ground in a bipartisan agreement, which comes at the crossroads of criminal justice reform and occupational licensing reform. In North Carolina, and across the country, licensing boards have great leeway to deny an occupational license to people...
A Vermont man’s attempts to work as a funeral director in North Carolina were thwarted when the N.C. Court of Appeals upheld a decision rejecting his request for a reciprocal license. Craig Franklin Smith is licensed as a funeral director in Vermont, but the N.C. Board of Funeral Service decided this wasn’t enough to grant...
For decades, owners of homes and cars had valuable capital sitting unused. There were no practical means of discovering customers, coordinating schedules, or facilitating payment. Then the Internet showed up.
Even partial deregulation of licensing would increase the number of North Carolinians entering the occupations in question — and would benefit consumers, though not necessarily the current providers.
