People drink alcohol on St. Patrick’s Day — a lot of it.
It’s one of the biggest alcohol drinking days in the United States and a popular one for people to go out to the bar. Depending on which state you live in, whoever is serving up drinks may have a certificate from the government permitting them to do their job. It’s not true in most states, but the Institute for Justice points out that 13 states require some form of certification to work as a bartender.
Whether it's paying a small fee, taking a course that is between two hours and five hours, passing an exam, or all of these things, it’s a barrier to entry that makes it a little harder for businesses to fill the job. It’s also yet another example of excessive occupational licensing, a problem that exists in many professions.
Do we need the government to mandate a curriculum explaining a person should not over-serve a patron, what the legal limit for blood alcohol content is, what a drunk person looks like, how to spot a fake ID, and that in some states, bars and restaurants have legal liability for over-serving customers? It took one sentence to lay out those problems. Imagine what a 15-minute conversation between a bar or restaurant owner or general manager with a new employee could do on this subject. They could even talk about how to change a keg, how to pour a Guinness, and what’s in some of the most common mixed drinks.
Without paying the government, the employee and boss could address those topics and how they directly relate to that specific bar or restaurant. And if a state government wanted to upload a two- or three-hour video on the matter to YouTube for people to watch voluntarily to learn more about the matter, maybe some people would like to watch it.
Instead, the certification puts employers in a situation in which they could end up short-staffed if they need a bartender to fill in last-minute and don't have a worker with the proper certification available to do the job.
While the bartending certification is not the worst example of excessive occupational licensing, it is a piece of a far greater problem.
Excessive occupational licensing requirements cost this country about 2 million jobs and stunt economic growth by $184 billion per year. It’s an issue in which Democrats, such as President Biden and former President Barack Obama, along with Republicans, such as former President Donald Trump and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, find common ground and agree there is a problem.
Some states will license a profession that most states do not, to the detriment of people who want to enter the field. This is true of being a florist in Louisiana or a natural hair braider in 20 states, to name a couple of examples. A lack of licensing reciprocity is another issue. While Arizona recognizes out-of-state licenses in any licensed profession, most states do not. And if someone has work experience in another state but not a license in the field, that can prevent them from working even if they’re more qualified for the job than someone fresh out of a trade school who is $12,000 in debt because of it.
Some ways to make it easier for people to receive occupational licenses include recognizing military certifications as a valid form of licensure, axing irrelevant high school diploma requirements for licenses and highly subjective good moral character clauses, waiving the licensing fee for first-time applicants from families earning 200% of the federal poverty level (as Arizona did), not allowing states to revoke someone's license to work because of outstanding student loan debt, reducing the required amount of classroom hours to obtain a license, and establishing apprenticeship alternatives to the classroom for those seeking a license.
States eliminating bartender licensing requirements won’t solve this problem entirely, but it’s a start. The country’s economy is suffering as a result of government restrictions on businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic, so it would be smart for states to include licensing reform in their economic recovery plans.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
