I’m trying to understand why House Republicans think behavioral analysts suddenly need to be licensed by the state.
A true party of reform would seek to curtail occupational licensure, not expand it. A true reform mindset in Raleigh would seek to open up occupational freedom, not restrict it.
True reform would uphold, not subvert, what is recognized in the North Carolina Constitution in Article 1, Section 1: the self-evident right of all persons to “the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor.”
Besides, thirty-two U.S. states don’t share this notion that state bureaucrats — and only state bureaucrats — have to step in and save their citizens from rogue behavioral analysts.
Importantly, the private sector has already provided the solution. There is, for example, a nonprofit Behavioral Analyst Certification Board that offers professional training and certification to meet its goal to “protect consumers of behavior analysis services worldwide by systematically establishing, promoting, and disseminating professional standards.”
House Republicans apparently think state functionaries would do better. In that they are acting just like their predecessors did for a host of other regulated professions, turning North Carolina into this:
You’ll notice that just crossing the border into South Carolina cuts the proportion of state-regulated job categories by two-thirds.
