Contact: Cameron Sholty, WILL Communications Director
414-727-7416
262-409-9816
cameron@will-law.org
Milwaukee, Wisconsin – On June 29, 2017, Representative Jonathan Brostoff and Senator LaTonya Johnson issued a letter to an unknown number of special interest lobbyists begging them to work to kill an occupational licensing reform bill. “Current initiatives in Wisconsin could have a detrimental impact on industries you lobby for and the integrity of the work done under the name of this profession,” said Brostoff and Johnson in their letter.
In the time since Brostoff and Johnson issued their letter, no less than eight special interest lobbying groups have registered to engage on this particular licensing reform – none in support.
Recent reports from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty have demonstrated that current licensing regulations in the Badger State results in lower employment, hindered opportunity, and costs to the economy.
WILL has sent an open records request to Representative Brostoff’s office seeking a full list of recipients of the letter. His office has yet to fulfill the request.
AB 369/SB 288, the legislation referenced in the Brostoff/Johnson letter, proposes the creation of a Licensing Review Council to review and recommend reforms to professional licensing in Wisconsin. This is a common-sense reform enacted in dozens of other states to provide some needed scrutiny to the ever-growing web of licensing laws and regulations that serve to fence people out of economic opportunity and protect special interest rackets.
“This is an embarrassing and pathetic attempt by Representative Brostoff and Senator Johnson to collude with special interest lobbyists to kill a common-sense reform intended to create new opportunities for Wisconsin workers. Instead of making their argument in public in defense of licensing laws and regulations, Brostoff and Johnson turn to the very special interests which use these laws to fence out the competition,” said Collin Roth, Research Fellow at WILL.
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