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Opinion: Licensing reciprocity should be a priority for Missouri Legislature

On April 27, the Missouri General Assembly will make its way back to Jefferson City. Leadership in both houses have signaled the legislature will prioritize the fiscal year 2021 budget and a short-list of bills that will help Missourians now and after the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time when more than 22 million Americans and over 300,000 Missourians have filed for unemployment in the last four weeks, increasing access to jobs and reducing red tape should be one of those short-list priorities. People need jobs, and companies will need employees to make our economy work again — quickly. That is why the St. Louis Regional Chamber is urging MoLeg to pass HB 2046 and support occupational licensing reciprocity for Missouri.

Certain professions like health care, education, transportation, and legal fields require state occupational licensing. That means, for example, a teacher licensed in Missouri may not be able to teach in Illinois schools. But licensing requirements have expanded dramatically over the last half-century and are now creeping into professions that have no real need for additional layers of government. 

According to a 2015 report, among the entire list of licensed occupations, “fewer than half are in health care, education, and law — large shares of licensed workers today are in sales, management, and even craft sectors like construction and repair.” While there are benefits to licenses in some fields including quality and safeguarding public health and safety, occupational licenses have also been used as a way to limit competition. 

Currently, new Missouri residents and people living in another state must apply to be relicensed to practice their profession in Missouri. Re-licensing can require professionals to take additional tests, attain more training, or wait months for approval from licensing boards before they can begin to work. These burdensome requirements are potentially stopping qualified workers from entering the Missouri workforce sooner, or at all. A bill sponsored by Missouri state Rep. Derek Grier (R-Chesterfield) aims to tackle this issue. HB 2046 would streamline the process for re-licensing individuals who have moved to Missouri or want to work in Missouri by enabling professionals, who have been licensed for at least one year in another state, to continue working in their professions without delay. 

Arizona passed a similar law last year, allowing those who were licensed in another state to practice in Arizona without delay. The Missouri General Assembly and Gov. Mike Parson have made steps this session to reduce reciprocity barriers by prioritizing a military spouse occupational licensing bill that would grant military members and their families licensing reciprocity, and an executive order that allows health care workers reciprocity to help Missourians during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

HB 2046 received a passing bipartisan vote in the House without one group or citizen testifying against it. The bill had similar success in the Senate Professional Registration Committee, where the bill sits now, with no one testifying against. 

Although there have been no objections in hearings conducted in both chambers, there have been questions about whether licensing reciprocity will take away jobs from Missourians. Lawmakers are right to think about the citizens of Missouri first, but before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, our state is going to need more workers, not less, to get our economy roaring back. Further, before the crisis, the Missouri Chamber’s 2030 workforce report polled CEOs throughout the state and found that “only 44 percent of business leaders are satisfied with the state’s availability of skilled workers.” One CEO summed up Missouri’s challenges recently: “We cannot find enough workers with the right skills. There is a mismatch, and unless somebody does something soon, we won’t be able to grow in Missouri.” 

Passing licensing reciprocity is also important for Missouri because its two largest metropolitan areas, St. Louis and Kansas City, which make up more than 66 percent of the state’s GDP, are located near the state’s borders. In addition, Missouri is bordered by eight states, and the residents that live near our state borders often seek employment in Missouri. Streamlining the process to get relicensed in Missouri will grow the state’s economy in every corner of Missouri and benefit businesses all over the Show-Me State. 

Gov. Parson and the General Assembly have already made headway this year on licensing reciprocity. HB 2046 would simply make reciprocity available to all licensed professionals and all licensed occupations. Preparing for the road to recovery and the next disaster begins now. Licensing reciprocity can help Missouri fill our health care ranks for the next crisis and can help fill jobs when business resumes. If the legislature is serious about addressing Missouri’s economy and getting the state back on the road to recovery, licensing reciprocity should be one of the priorities they address this spring.