The Florida House voted Thursday to strip government oversight of more than a dozen professions, including auctioneers, yacht brokers and talent agents.
Some of the regulated professions generate thousands of consumer complaints annually.
The bill, HB 5005, would dump licensing, surety bonds and other consumer safeguards required of telemarketers, travel agents/vacation-package sellers and auto-repair shops.
Those industries ranked first, fourth and fifth, respectively, on the 2010 Top 10 Consumer Complaint List compiled by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. There were 8,599 filings on telemarketers alone.
I guess we know the reporters opinion, but that's for another day. Professional licensing is mostly pushed by the industries themselves to reduce competition, increase profits and add false prestige and credibility through a state stamp of approval.
As a result, we have dozens of boards, departments and a plethora of arcane rules that mostly serve to employ regulators and don't really do much to protect the public while making it expensive and time consuming to enter numerous professions. And there's no evidence whatsoever that licensing reduces consumer fraud or abuse. In fact, it gives the public a false sense of security since the state doesn't and can never have enough resources to police all these businesses as promised.
This vote was passed along party lines with Democrats predictably voting against economic freedom. Of course, the usual hysteria followed:
“Should we stop registering sex offenders because that’s all we do is register them?” asked Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek. “There comes a time when registration is critical.”
Leave it to a liberal to liken yacht brokers and interior designers to child molesters. That's how they view the private, productive and - gasp! - for profit private sector.
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