Occupational Licensing in Arizona

What is Occupational Licensing?

An occupational or professional license is a permit issued by the government that lets someone work in a particular field. In Arizona, almost one out of every five workers must now get an occupational license before they can legally do their jobs. But many licenses don’t even improve service quality or protect the public from actual harm.

Licenses Create Barriers to Working in Arizona

Occupational licenses often impose high barriers to entry. That makes it much harder for people to find work or to start a new business. According to the Institute for Justice’s report, License to Work , the average license in Arizona for low- and moderate-income jobs takes 689 days of education and experience. In fact, the state has the fourth most burdensome licensing requirements in the nation. And those required classes can be very expensive.  

For instance, cosmetology is one of the state’s most popular licenses. In Arizona, it takes at least 1,500 hours of classes to get a license in cosmetology. On average, a cosmetology program in the state costs $17,019, while the average student takes out $8,590 in federal student loans. But despite such a hefty investment, many cosmetologists barely earn enough to get by: Half of Arizona cosmetologists make less than $26,340 a year. 

All told, the state’s licensing requirements come with heavy costs. A separate study by IJ, At What Cost?, estimated that occupational licensing in Arizona costs the state’s economy $2.83 billion and leads to 29,000 fewer jobs each year.  

The Institute for Justice’s Fight Against Strict Licensing Laws in Arizona

To better foster economic liberty, the Institute for Justice has filed multiple lawsuits against strict occupational licensing laws in Arizona. IJ successfully ended regulations that forced hair braiders and eyebrow threaders to become licensed cosmetologists and estheticians, even though those licenses didn’t actually teach how to braid hair or thread eyebrows. On behalf of Celeste Kelly, Grace Granatelli and Stacey Kollman, IJ defeated an Arizona law that banned providing massage therapy to animals without a license in veterinary medicine.  

Recent Licensing Reforms in Arizona 

Back in 2016, Arizona repealed licenses for multiple occupations, including citrus packers, assayers, non-commercial driving instructors, and yoga-teacher instructors. Then in 2019, Arizona enacted a landmark law that universally recognizes out-of-state licenses. Thanks to the reform, licensed workers who move to Arizona will be free to work when they arrive and will no longer have to waste their time and money trying to obtain another permission slip from the government.  

In addition, Arizona has repeatedly eased licensing barriers for people with criminal records and has also created a sunrise and sunset review process to analyze proposed and preexisting regulations for non-health occupations.  

Can You Get a License to Work with a Criminal Record in Arizona?

Aside from licenses involving education or private security, people with a criminal record can get a license to work in Arizona. Licensing boards can only disqualify applicants if they have been convicted of a crime that “specifically and directly relates” to the occupation, unless they were convicted of a crime involving “moral turpitude.”  

Boards must also consider whether an applicant has been rehabilitated, the time elapsed since the crime occurred, and offer a petition process to see if a crime could potentially disqualify them. In addition, boards may not use arrest or post-conviction relief records as well as most convictions older than 7 years to deny licenses. For those reasons, Arizona received a B in IJ’s Barred from Working report. 

How You Can Help

If you are an Arizona resident and you want to help fight against these unfair and unnecessary licensing laws, there are a few ways you can get involved. You can donate to the Institute for Justice, sign up for our email updates, and share our message with your network. Together, we can make sure that all Arizona workers have the economic liberty they deserve.