Experts and industry groups tell commission professional licensing needs structural reform, clearer discipline and modernization

Summary

A Vanderbilt law scholar and industry representatives told the Little Hoover Commission on April 24 that the state’s reorganization is a rare chance to redesign professional licensing—reducing self‑regulation, separating discipline from rulemaking, and modernizing exams and oversight—rather than simply moving boards into a new cabinet agency.

Rebecca Allensworth, an academic who has written a book on professional licensing, told the Little Hoover Commission the existing licensing board structure in many states, including California, “is broken.” Speaking remotely on April 24, Allensworth said the proposal to move boards under a new Business and Consumer Services Agency presents an opportunity to redesign regulation rather than merely reshuffle boxes.

“All 1 in 5 American workers have to have a professional license,” Allensworth said, adding that the current self‑regulatory model gives professional associations outsized control: “Professional licensing boards … are self regulatory. They're made up of members of the profession. They're kind of volunteering their time. They're not paid. They moonlight as their own regulators.” She warned that the combination of self‑governance and thin discipline can both raise barriers to entry and allow some dangerous or low‑quality providers to remain in practice.

Allensworth…

Experts and industry groups tell commission professional licensing needs structural reform, clearer discipline and modernization

Summary

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