While this is fresh on my mind I might as well get it out of the way. I started out yesterday to do my Daily Dose about how states have these burdensome regulations placed on people just trying to make a living called “occupational licenses”. While reviewing that list I found one that sent me off in a different direction, when I started first writing these Daily Dose blogs that happened quite frequently. I pretty much thought that I had gotten beyond that stage but apparently I haven’t completely mastered the art of writing with discipline yet.
So, I am back here today to give another shot and let’s hope I can hit the target.
Occupational licensing has its place in society and I believe that some types of work do require specific skills in order to do the work properly and safely. From what I have gathered in my quest into this subject occupational licensing was intended as a safe guard to protect the public. The initial occupations that required these types of licenses were mainly those that had to do with work that could impact the health and safety of the public. I can see how that would be good, no need in putting people in harm’s way unnecessarily. So it should be no surprise that doctors, engineers, lawyers, and police officers should have some form of licensing requirement as all those occupations would clearly fall under health and safety. I would also include on that list of priority occupations plumbers and food service workers.
You’ve heard the saying, “if a little is good; then a lot must be better.” Well evidently the people in the state government here in Texas have and they must have agreed with it. The total number of occupations that require occupational license here in Texas is right at 150 different activities. That seems to me to be a whole bunch more than it needs to be, I would have called it good with just the jobs we have already mentioned by name.
I happen to be involved in a profession that requires one of these occupational licenses, let me restate that, I still hold a current license for one; I work in sales now and people who work in that field are my customers. I keep my license current just in case I ever decide to jump back over the fence and pick up where I left off. I can tell you that I have had my license for over 30 years, and it has cost me thousands of dollars over those years to keep it when you add up all the fees, continuing education courses and mandatory training that are required. Not to mention the days of productive work that had to put aside to do these things.
The surprising part is, according to analysts, Texas is one of the better places to work; for they have less occupational licensing than several other states, California and Florida have substantially more than Texas just to name a couple.
Just how far though does a state have to go to protect people, and from what?
To show just how ridiculous some of these licenses can be and the hoops that you have to jump through I am going to tell you the story of a woman who found out firsthand how jacked up and out of control things have gotten. Her name is Isis Brantley, and this woman can be found at the top, or near it, of most any list when it comes to African hair-braiding.
She had been teaching the techniques of this hair-braiding style for over thirty years and has done braiding for several top Holywood folks and musicians. In 2007 Texas started requiring that hair braiding needed to be a licensed occupation. Hair braiding must be a major health and safety concern for the law makers because it requires a 35 hour course before you can become licensed. To complicate things even further, the hair-braiding license requirement was put into the Occupations Code with the state’s barbering statutes and regulations.
So Isis, who was making her living braiding hair and teaching hair braiding, was now required to become a state licensed barber instructor if she wants her students to be able to learn braiding from her and get their own license to braid hair.
In order to become a state licensed barber instructor here is what she would have to do; first she would have to get a class A barber license, that would require her to take 1,500 hours of classes. Next she would have to complete an additional 750 hours of training on barbering instruction. In addition two those two requirements she would also have to open a state licensed Barber College in a facility that could not be less than two thousand square feet and it would have to be fully equipped to teach barbering. When you add up just the hours and number of state examinations Isis would have to put herself through it is 2,250 hours and four exams, not to mention the thousands of dollars in expenses.
Here is what makes this absolutely insane, the students who she would teach the thirty five hour course to could no way fail in their attempt to get the hair braiding license. The state does not even require that a person take an exam in order to get the license.
The state went as far as having Isis arrested in 1997 for braiding hair without a license. Well, Isis fought back and filed suit against the state, because at the time she was charged in 1995 no laws were on the books requiring a license for hair braiding. The state waited two years to arrest her so they could get a law on the books and charge her for braiding without a license. The suit ended up in several meetings and hearings but in the end Isis prevailed and was granted a license using the “grandfather clause”, where an existing business could be given a license without going through all the hoops, since she had already been teaching braiding and it was a well established fact, the state did the correct thing and gave her a license in 2007. Isis is still teaching and braiding in Texas to this day in the Dallas area. You can read more about her story on her website at naturallyisis.com .
I haven’t heard of any deaths from hair braiding, and thanks to the state of Texas, I probably never will. (Sarcasm)
This is just one example of the state government being out of control when it comes to controlling the people of Texas.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
