WASHINGTON (September 22)—Today, the House Republican Study Committee released the long-awaited report from its American Worker task force. The R Street Institute commends the task force for offering an innovative, conservative-minded package of tangible policy solutions to improve the lives of American workers.

Titled “Reclaiming the American Dream: Proposals to Empower the Workers of Today and Tomorrow,” the report offers more than 100 concrete policy proposals on issues including education, labor and welfare reform. According to the report authors, this comprehensive set of reforms will lift up and empower workers and ensure that all Americans are able to achieve the American Dream.

While there are many proposed reforms in the report worth considering, R Street especially appreciates the task force’s work to highlight the burden of overly restrictive occupational licensing regimes. As the authors correctly note, Americans across the country are routinely impeded from entering their chosen profession due to strict occupational licensing laws, which often serve to restrict competition but do not benefit public health or safety. Eliminating unjustifiable barriers such as these is the best first step to get people back to work.

We applaud the task force’s inclusion of the implementation of the Portable Certification for Spouses (PCS) Act, introduced by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) and enacted in January, which will ensure that military families are not unduly burdened by occupational licensure. We also appreciate the emphasis on the Restoring Board Immunity Act, which approaches occupational licensing reform from an antitrust viewpoint.

“It’s really exciting to see the Republican Study Committee continually focus on narrow but important measures to reduce unnecessary burdens of occupational licensing” said R Street fellow Shoshana Weissmann. “Government barriers to jobs should always be about safety, not just stand as arbitrary barriers to work.”

Read the full report here.

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