Want to Start a Moving Company in Missouri? You'll Need Permission from Your Competitors First

At the blog of the Pacific Legal Foundation, attorney Timothy Sandefur describes the legal challenge he's currently spearheading against a blatant piece of economic protectionism in Missouri. As Sandefur explains,

it's illegal to run a moving company without getting a state license, but when you apply for a license, the Department of Transportation notifies the existing companies and gives them the chance to object. When they object, you're required to go through an expensive, time-consuming hearing process to determine whether there's a "public need" for a new moving company. Yet there's no law or regulation that defines "need," so the entire procedure becomes a roadblock in the way of hardworking people…who only want an opportunity to run a business to support themselves and their families.

Call me old-fashioned, but shouldn't the success or failure of the moving business itself be the sole measure of whether or not there is a "public need" for that business?