Sunshine Sentinel

Universal licensing policies, the recognizing of professional certifications across state lines, have been adopted in many states including Arizona, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Utah and Pennsylvania, Victoria Eardley, the marketing director at the Foundation for Government Accountability, wrote in a guest column for the Gainesville Sun.

"Licensed workers relocating to a state with universal licensing recognition can get right to work because their license — and the time and energy they put into earning it — travels with them," Eardley wrote.

Eardley's employer, the Foundation for Government Accountability, is a public policy think tank based in Naples, Florida.

Florida is not one of the states to adopt universal licensing, she said.

"Why in this pandemic-affected economy, and as small businesses struggle to stay afloat, are states such as Florida and others enforcing needless restrictions on out-of-state licensed workers," she asked.

Universal licensing would help Florida residents "pursue their passions," Sal Nuzzo, vice president of policy, James Madison Institute, told the Sunshine Sentinel.

"At its core, licensing reform is about individual Floridians pursuing careers that allow them the opportunity to live the lives they desire and prosper," Nuzzo said. "Universal licensing reform takes this a step further and acknowledges that in the information age, there is no reason a person holding a certification in one state shouldn’t have that certification recognized in other states. If there is a need, why shouldn’t a doctor in south Georgia be able to treat patients 15 miles away in Tallahassee when he or she can treat patients 250 miles away in Atlanta?"

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of work mobility, Nuzzo said.

"We have seen radical changes in employment mobility over the last 10 years," he said. "That mobility was accelerated in 2020 when thousands of employers and millions of employees realized they could work from just about anywhere. You can reside in Florida and work for a company in Iowa. You can reside in Chicago and work for a company in Miami. The possibilities for economic opportunity are boundless. Universal licensing recognition helps catch government up to the market."

Many work-related regulations were suspended during the pandemic, he noted.

"We should ask ourselves (and ask our policymakers) an important question," he said. "If a regulation was suspended during a global pandemic that impacted the entire planet, was that regulation even necessary in the first place?" 

"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity before us," he added. "If we recognize that too often government permission slips are the least effective and least efficient method for protecting consumers and promoting economic growth, we can make even greater strides in advancing the dreams of Floridians to pursue their passions."