Matt Schonert's Blog

Mayor Michael Sessions has brought an ugly tone to an otherwise genial mayoral race. A few weeks ago, the mayor publicly endorsed Tony Vear and embarked on an effort to criticize Douglas Moon, but his motivation for doing so is not clear.

Perhaps the only valid concern he has raised is Moon’s vote against rezoning the hospital, which Moon said was done to protest the way that Sessions prematurely ended discussion of the issue and forced it to a vote.

Sessions has also argued that candidate Doug Moon’s employment in Coldwater will make him unavailable to respond to emergencies in Hillsdale.

If Sessions truly believes that Moon will be unable to give his personal and immediate attention to such crises, it is only fair to ask Sessions what specific crises have required this type of response in his four years as mayor. Specifically, what mayoral crises have required a response time of 30 minutes or less?

In comparing the candidates, Sessions has suggested that the value of Moon’s city council work pales in comparison to Tony Vear’s work on the planning commission.

In order to take this seriously, we must ignore the irony of quibbling over which candidate’s city government experience is more applicable to mayoral duties that were previously carried out by a high school student.

Sessions is free to endorse any candidate he pleases, but it seems vindictive to endorse one candidate so forcefully and attack the other without a severe reason for favoring one over the other.

If there is a serious reason why Doug Moon is unfit to be mayor, then let us hear it. The petty grievances Sessions has raised do not explain the excessive zeal that he has shown in his attempts to undermine Moon’s campaign.

(originally appeared in October 30 edition of the Hillsdale Daily News)

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Last week, the Michigan Department of Human Services ordered a West Michigan mother to stop babysitting her neighbor’s two children each morning before they board the school bus. Lisa Snyder said she watches the children for less than an hour and receives no compensation. Around the same time as Snyder’s run-in with the nanny state, UK officials confronted two working mothers who cared for each other’s children on a reciprocal basis. The women, both police officers with Thames Valley Police, are said to have violated the 2006 Childcare Act, which requires non-relatives to pay a $164 annual fee, attend training sessions, and conduct risk assessments in order to be registered as childminders.

Although Britons are growing used to the Orwellian way of life, few Americans would expect that a mother could be threatened with fines and imprisonment for watching a friend’s children without a commercial license from the state. Thanks to occupational licensing laws, the state can protect us from good neighbors like Ms. Snyder. She suspects that a close acquaintance reported her “illegal daycare” to the authorities. She alludes to a personal vendetta, but it just as likely might have been a jilted day care provider who lost a customer thanks to Ms. Snyder’s generosity, or an industry shill who wanted to send a message to unlicensed providers.

Of course it is within reason to regulate and license some professions, particularly those where liability or human welfare is a concern, such as medicine, debt collection, and indeed, child care. But a quick look at Michigan’s Licensing Services portal confirms that regulation is not limited to these critical professions. The State of Michigan licenses 116 occupations, making it one of the most heavily regulated states in the country – ranked 6th overall, according to a Reason Foundation policy study. It is unlikely that all of these occupations are regulated out of necessity, especially when one considers that occupational licensing is often nothing more than a form of industry protectionism. Often enacted at the behest of industry lobby groups, these laws restrict competition by creating procedural and financial barriers that shut out people without the means to acquire a license.

Those who dare to ignore the laws face substantial fines and in some cases, incarceration. This may seem unfair, but without such harsh penalties, how will be be spared the ineptness of unlicensed interior designers, auctioneers, and hair braiders? How will we punish the college dorm resident who gives $2 haircuts? We might as well prohibit any activity which causes powerful lobbying organizations and their protected constituents to lose profits. The Louisiana State Florists’ Association succeeded in this task when the Bayou State became the first nationwide to require a florist license. Aspiring florists must pass a test with a failure rate that exceeds that of the state bar exam and is written by the florist’s association itself. It is true that public safety is sometimes a motive for regulation, but greed is the perennial factor.

UPDATE: By a unanimous vote in each chamber, the Michigan House and Senate passed legislation which exempts free babysitting from the license requirement. (12 Nov. 2009)

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My band, Ten and Six, released our debut music video today:

Our new album is also out today. You can download it free, or buy a CD for $4.95.

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1929-2009

Born, lived, and died in Middle Branch Township, Osceola County, Michigan

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As a Michigander who grew up three hours from Metro Detroit, I’m always amused by sentences like this (emphasis mine):

In southwestern Michigan, about 30 vehicles were involved in a deadly series of pileups on a six-mile stretch of Interstate 94 north of Stevensville, about 175 miles west of Detroit.

Stevensville is a village just off the Lake Michigan shoreline, about 70 miles east of Chicago.

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