Occupational Licensing Abuse in Texas
The San Antonio Business Journal reports on an economic liberty case filed today by the Texas Institute for Justice.
Wesley Hottot, lead attorney for the Institute for Justice Texas Chapter, says Texas' proud heritage as a beacon for entrepreneurship is in danger "when the state tries to regulate every new industry rather than trusting entrepreneurs and consumers."
Hottot says eyebrow threading is an ancient technique for removing unwanted eyebrow hairs using tightly wound cotton thread. "Threading is a booming industry in Texas because it is cheaper, faster and less painful than waxing," he says.
But now the [Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation] has threatened this small business-based industry by requiring practitioners to obtain what Hottot says are "expensive and irrelevant licenses in Western-style cosmetology."
"Threading is not mentioned anywhere in state law, yet TDLR expects threaders, some with over 20 years of experience, to immediately stop working and spend $20,000 obtaining up to 1,500 hours of instruction in government-approved beauty schools that do not even teach threading," Hottot says. "Further, threaders must pass government-approved cosmetology exams that do not test threading."
Read the whole thing here. And click below for an IJ video on the case:
