By Jarrett Skorup

Guest Columnist

Anne Davis knows a simple way to help Michigan grow: Make it easier for people like her to continue working when they move from another state. As Anne can attest, Michigan makes this process far harder than it should be.

Anne is a licensed therapist. She grew up here and attended Central Michigan University before moving to Colorado, where she obtained her license. She’s spent more than 20 years serving the mental health needs of vulnerable people, from broken families to the homeless. When she moved back to mid-Michigan in 2021, she looked forward to helping even more people, from all walks of life.

But it turns out she couldn’t—at least, not without jumping through pointless yet costly bureaucratic hoops.

Michigan didn’t immediately recognize her Colorado license, effectively assuming that she wasn’t qualified to be a therapist, even though she’d already taken years of education, paid significant fees, and maintained all her professional requirements. Anne couldn’t work for months, preventing her from earning an income doing the job she loves—a job she had done with distinction for two decades.

Michigan already has a shortage of mental-health professionals—not only in hospitals, but also in schools. If Anne had been able to work right away, she could have treated people who desperately need professional help.

Thankfully, Anne persevered. Thirteen months after she initially applied for the license in Michigan, she was finally approved.

But Anne and other professionals who move to Michigan should not have to endure this injustice. If she’d known about the hurdles she had to clear, she may not have moved back in the first place. After all, why would you come to Michigan if you can’t work, pay your bills, or move forward with your life?

Anne’s experience is far from unique. Countless others run into the same barriers because Michigan doesn’t automatically reciprocate or recognize many licenses from other states.

We are talking about dozens of professions, not just therapists and counselors. All told, about one in five Michigan jobs require a license. These jobs range from preschool teachers to veterinary technicians, HVAC contractors to massage therapists, school bus drivers to commercial fishermen. If you already have a license and move to Michigan, you have to hope the state easily reciprocates or, like Anne, you’ll be out of work while having to re-take classes or navigate the bureaucracy.

That isn’t exactly cheap. Michigan licenses often cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Many require months or years of education and experience—even a license to wash hair requires hundreds of hours of training—which can mean years of not earning an income. It’s an obvious barrier to moving to Michigan.

Everyone would win if Michigan recognized licenses from other states. People who move here could work right away, contributing to our state’s growth and success. The families and customers they serve would benefit from more options, especially in fields like education, health care, and the skilled trades, where worker shortages are common. And businesses would find it easier to hire and expand, building a better economy that benefits all.

Other states have recognized that recognizing licenses is a win-win. To date, 20 states have passed “licensing reciprocity” bills. That includes our neighbors in Ohio, who enacted this commonsense policy at the start of last year. A Michigan worker who moves to Ohio does not face a barrier to working and building a better life. But an Ohio worker who moves to Michigan stands a good chance of having to sit on the sidelines, for no good reason.

That’s right: Other states are giving Michiganders a reason to leave, but Michigan isn’t giving Americans a reason to come. Arizona goes the furthest of any state, recognizing any license or a person’s work experience, automatically making new arrivals eligible to begin working immediately. This isn’t that controversial. Michigan does the same thing, but right now that is limited to military members, veterans, or their family members. We should do it for everyone.

In December, the Growing Michigan Together Council recommended that Michigan’s leaders enact licensing reciprocity. Yet over halfway into 2024, the legislature has yet to act, even though similar bills have been introduced in years past. In other states, this is a bipartisan issue, and Michigan lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should champion this reform.

They should remember Anne Davis’s story. We’re lucky she chose to move here, even though it cost her a year of lost time and income. Imagine if we made it possible for people to move to the state without losing anything— so they can start helping Michigan win from their first day here.

Jarrett Skorup is the vice president for marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market research and educational institute.