EDITORIAL: How occupational licensing criminalizes good behavior

Helping people rebuild after a devastating hurricane shouldn’t be a criminal offense. But thanks to onerous occupational licensing schemes, it can be.

Terence Duque owns a roofing business in Texas, which opened in 2008. His company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and a top recommendation from Owens Corning, a roofing supply company. In other words, he runs a reputable company.

There’s high demand for roofing services after natural disasters such as Hurricane Ian. This month, he went to Florida offering roofing services to people affected by the hurricane. According to news accounts, he brought an RV command center and construction trailers. He set up in a community center in an area hit hard by the storm.

People who rush in after natural disasters to help their fellow Americans deserve applause. Instead, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office arrested Mr. Duque. These crack investigators discovered that a local homeowner had received a bid from his company. Then the homeowner entered into a written contract to have his roof repaired. The horror.

His crime? Mr. Duque did not have the proper license — in Florida. His company is licensed in other states. For his part, Mr. Duque said he read Gov. Ron DeSantis’ emergency order and thought it meant out-of-state contractors were allowed. He had one of his employees reach out to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. He believed he had received permission to repair roofs.

None of this — or common sense — swayed local police. They took him to jail and then bragged about it.

“These people have been through enough, and I will not allow unlicensed contractors to further victimize them,” Sheriff Bill Prummell said in a release.

Florida licensing bureaucrats piled on. They praised the sheriff for arresting “an unlicensed roofing worker putting Floridians at risk.”

What a ridiculous assertion. Homeowners need repairs, not red tape. They’d be fortunate to have a company as experienced as Mr. Duque’s provide that service. A study after Hurricane Frances even found that allowing in roofers from other states sped up Florida’s recovery.

“The Department of Business and Professional Regulation does not appear to realize that it is the bad guy here,” said Justin Pearson, an attorney with the Institute for Justice. “When safe, successful businesses come to Florida to help with the recovery after a hurricane, the last thing (Florida) should want is for the workers to be arrested and charged with a felony.”

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office owes Mr. Duque an apology. And lawmakers in Florida and Nevada should use this incident as an impetus to more broadly re-examine protectionist licensing requirements.