Browsing: Licensing and Regulation

Amid a sustained outcry from frustrated occupational license seekers and a statewide worker shortage, Wisconsin lawmakers are advancing a universal recognition licensure bill and nearly a dozen more narrowly targeted reforms that would finally help remedy longtime bureaucratic dysfunction and over-regulation.

Dogged by a huge backlog for occupational licenses and complaints by applicants and lawmakers, Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Professional Services must submit to an audit of its operations.

An all-Republican majority of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted Tuesday to direct the Legislative Audit Bureau to examine an agency that fields between 5,000 and 10,000 calls every week. The LAB website projects the expected release of the audit in fall 2023. 

The landscape of childcare in Wisconsin faces a problem: Evidence suggests that an overemphasis on quality regulation likely has driven some providers out of the market, resulting in fewer low-income children served by Wisconsin Shares, the state’s subsidized childcare program, and less overall parental choice and higher costs, without measurable improvements in outcomes.

Dental therapists are mid-level providers — similar to physician assistants or nurse practitioners — who perform preventive, restorative and intermediate restorative procedures such as fluoride applications, cavity repairs and extractions of diseased teeth. These licensed professionals work under the general supervision of dentists and often practice in locations with underserved populations.

Scholars like Morris Kleiner at the University of Minnesota have found that licensing creates barriers to entry into the field, especially for low-income aspirants; reduces employment and competition; inflates prices and the wages of licensed workers; stifles innovation; and limits mobility.

Approximately 30% of the revenue in Wisconsin’s current two-year budget comes from the federal government — and that doesn’t include billions and billions of dollars sent to the Badger State to ostensibly get us through the pandemic.

Eight states, including neighboring Minnesota and Michigan, have authorized dental therapist programs statewide. Dental therapists are mid-level providers who perform preventive, restorative and intermediate restorative procedures.

Wisconsin’s politicians prohibit over 1 million citizens from working unless they have government permission.

Healthcare What’s New Government Transparency Analysis: Children’s mental health and the curious case of crisis spendingBy Mark LisheronJanuary 26, 2023…

Bipartisan licensure reform legislation backed by the Badger Institute has been signed into law.

The following is testimony delivered by Badger Institute Senior Vice President Michael Jahr on strategies for reducing the occupational licensing backlog.

Michael Jahr joined a panel of experts to discuss how expanding the dental therapy profession in Wisconsin would bridge the access gap for many individuals through use of free market principles.

Professionals should be able to secure state-required credentials in days, not months

Public-private hybrids underperform and are fraught with risk 

New law makes it clear natural braiders don’t need state license

Dental therapists could help address oral care shortage
By Anne Trautner
June 23, 2021

The Albrecht Free Clinic in West Bend gets calls daily from Medicaid patients in need of dental care.

Primer analyzes proposed policies and makes recommendations for Wisconsin

In a joint brief with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, we lay out the problems with occupational licensing in Wisconsin and what meaningful reforms can be enacted.

Badger Institute Policy Analyst Julie Grace testified in favor of 2021 SB 232 and SB 233 before the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Insurance, Licensing and Forestry on May 26, 2021.

These bills would streamline the process to obtain an occupational license in Wisconsin.