You can’t be trusted to pick out flowers or arrange your furniture.
Don’t take it from me. That’s the law in Louisiana.
OK, that’s a bit extreme, but there is some overly burdensome regulation going on in our state government that speaks volumes about how much ability and intelligence our lawyers think the people of this state have.
Louisiana, after all, is the only state in this great nation (built on the ideals of freedom and individual responsibility) that requires that florists – yes, florists – be licensed.
I mean, what would happen if anyone could just go grab a handful of flowers and put them in a vase? The results, of course, would be dire.
And the consumers can’t be trusted to know what is or isn’t pleasing to the eye and nose. No, we have to defer to government bureaucrats who hand out licenses to those they deem worthy to arrange flowers.
And this, believe it or not, is an improvement over the old law, which actually required prospective florists to take a practical exam that would be judged by some government worker. At the end of the ordeal, one would learn the outcome. Lawmakers removed the practical exam from the licensing procedure several years ago, but the license requirement still exists.
Why?
Why can’t the market, the individual, be trusted to determine who can and cannot adequately store, sell and arrange flowers? Why can’t people decide for themselves?
The simple answer is that this is a ridiculous requirement that simply shouldn’t exist. No nation of free people should submit to government bureaucrats judging florists.
But we’ve come to accept it – even though we are the only state that does.
The mind-boggling thing is that some government folks actually defend the requirement.
These are the words of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain (who is head of the department in charge of the licensing: “If you’re running a floral business, you have to have a license – you have to know what you’re doing. (Without licensing), you’re going to set up a situation where anybody can open a floral shop and there’s no method to regulate the industry and protect the public.”
How would we survive? If just anyone could set up a florist shop, anarchy would surely follow. The government must protect us from such a horrific scenario.
And our overzealous laws don’t stop at flowers.
Our state is one of just four that butts into the business of interior design.
You might think that just about anyone might be able to pursue interior design. And in most states, you would be correct.
But such is our love for huge government that even such a matter as this comes under the thumb of a state licensing procedure.
There’s even a special board, the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Interior Designers, and an executive director. All that is supposed to make sure everyone who practices interior design is licensed to do so.
That agency has a website that seeks to justify its own existence by citing all the responsibilities interior designers have, from keeping track of fire codes to abiding by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I’m sure that interior design is a complex matter that shouldn’t be left to the layman. But somehow, 46 other states manage to get by with no such licensing requirement. And, I have not heard horror stories of the furniture disasters that plague other states.
These are two examples of the absurd results of trusting government rather than the individual. Sure, I don’t want anyone administering medicine or performing surgery without a license. But arranging flowers or furniture? I think we’ll survive even the worst.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has signaled a willingness to address some of these ridiculous laws, and his overtures have been welcome by business interests.
We’ll see if we’re smarter and more capable than our current laws suggest. My guess is that the governor and lawmakers could lessen some of the onerous laws on the books without affecting our lives or safety by even the smallest amount.
What they could do is to trim government and increase freedom – two laudable feats that rarely occur in the governmental realm.
I just don’t trust that they’ll do it.
Editorial Page Editor Michael Gorman can be reached at 448-7612 or by e-mail at mike.gorman@dailycomet.com.