IS THIS A FAVOR, OR JUST A FOLLY?
S.248 is an exceedingly short and clear bill. It contains only three lines. The bill would allow anyone who’s held a state-issued professional license for 30 years or more to forego any further continuing education.
The important question here is this: What’s the reason? The legislature has passed laws regulating workers in every conceivable field, from accountants to real estate brokers, from psychology examiners to pyrotechnic safety experts. Of course, neither state bureaucrats nor state-appointed professionals have sufficient knowledge to impose rules on these professions. What would make anybody think Statehouse politicians are right to impose an arbitrary 30-year cut-off date for the continuing education requirement on all these fields?
A cynical observer could be forgiven for suspecting that this looks like a legislative favor to someone who feels he or she has had enough continuing education.
In any case, this isn’t how a free market economy works. In a freer economy than ours, industries themselves would be able to decide on the credentials and certificates necessary to let consumers know whether someone was on the up and up. It wouldn’t be up to state lawmakers acting at the behest of lobbyists.
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