Most people agree that governments should properly balance the tradeoffs involved with restricting who can work legally in an effort to reduce the risks of harm faced by the public. The problem is that the benefits of licensing laws rarely outweigh their costs. In other words, licensing mandates often needlessly block people from legal employment and only rarely provide a net benefit to the public. That should change.
There are four key reforms that would balance protections for the public and the right to legal employment. Michigan has already accomplished one of those four reforms in 2018 when it passed a law that prohibits local municipalities and governments from creating their own licensing requirements. The other three key reforms are described below.