For months, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended daily life and inflicted enormous human and economic costs. However, amid this unprecedented challenge, there have been a few bright spots worth highlighting, from neighbors volunteering to help one another to local organizations stepping up to meet the needs of their community.

One of the most encouraging responses to the pandemic has been the willingness of policymakers at every level of government to suspend unnecessary regulations that made it harder for medical professionals to serve or for businesses to operate. Now, as communities begin to reopen and seek to recover economically, it is more important than ever to remove the barriers that would inhibit those efforts while still protecting the public if the virus reemerges in the fall. Though there are many examples of unnecessary regulations that would hinder an economic recovery, occupational licensing restrictions should be at the top of the list.