CHICAGO—After two years of work, a task force created by the Illinois General Assembly released a report recommending that the state ease the burden of government licensing. The Comprehensive Licensing Information to Minimize Barriers (CLIMB) Task Force was created to investigate how occupational licensing of low-to-moderate-income occupations relates to economic inequities in Illinois and to recommend reforms.
The task force combined the expertise of a bipartisan group of lawmakers, policy experts, a member of the public, and a regulatory agency designee. Their review found that current licensing requirements designed to protect health and safety, can unintentionally impose barriers to entry into the workforce for poor and disadvantaged communities.
“Licenses are not the only tools available to regulators, but they are the most expensive, onerous, and time-consuming credentials to obtain for working class and justice-involved applicants,” said Noah Bazis, the task force’s project manager and policy fellow at the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship. “We don’t have to choose between protecting the public and promoting prosperity.”
Major recommendations in the report include exempting hair braiders from licensing, reducing barriers for justice-involved individuals, and creating “sunrise” procedures to prevent the creation of new, unnecessary licenses.
CLIMB found that requiring a license to braid hair does not enhance public safety but does disproportionately impact individuals from minority communities. Illinois currently requires 300 hours of classroom training to apply for a license and continuing education requirements to keep a license.
In recent years, a number of states have eliminated braiding licenses. Currently 33 states require no license, up from 21 in 2016. This includes neighboring states Indiana and Wisconsin. Pennsylvania removed braiding from its definition of cosmetology just a few weeks ago.
CLIMB also recommends that lawmakers consider reducing the education requirements for a full cosmetology license, currently 1,500 hours. An IJ study, Beauty School Debt and Drop-Outs, found that state-mandated cosmetology school often leaves students in debt, that students struggle to graduate on time, and that the investment rarely pays off in terms of earnings. In Illinois, 3 of 4 students borrowed money to attend school and fewer than 1 in 3 graduated on time.
A second major recommendation from CLIMB is that the state reform processes for criminal justice system-involved individuals. While Illinois teaches barbering in prisons, individuals who exit the system with training find it difficult to complete training and apply for a license. Recidivism is sharply reduced when individuals are able to find a consistent job, and reducing barriers could have both economic and crime-fighting benefits for the state.
CLIMB also recommends that the state pause the creation of any new occupational licenses for the next 12 months and implement reforms to better evaluate the necessity of licenses. In recent years, there have been proposals to create new licenses for landscape architects and art therapists. The state created a music therapy license in 2022.
A 2022 report from IJ looked closely at “sunrise” processes that study licensing proposals. The report found that the push for licensing often comes from lobbyists within an occupation, not consumers. Sunrise reviews overwhelmingly recommended against new licensing and most recommended no new regulation at all. With more robust sunrise processes, Illinois could prevent the creation of unnecessary regulations.