Give Me Liberty — and Let Americans Work

Editor’s note: This is one installment in a One Small Step series exploring how our founding principles apply to policy change movements. See the series introduction and full collection here. 

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, we’re reminded that the promise of this nation has always begun with a simple idea: every person has the right to earn a living through their own effort and talent. For generations, that promise fueled innovation, migration, and upward mobility. It was also inspired by great minds who influenced our founding fathers like Adam Smith, who said of labor: “The property which every man has in his own labour, as it is the original foundation of all other property, so it is the most sacred and inviolable. The patrimony of a poor man lies in the strength and dexterity of his hands; and to hinder him from employing this strength and dexterity in what manner he thinks proper without injury to his neighbour, is a plain violation of this most sacred property.”  

Yet for millions today, many governmental barriers stand in the way including government imposed occupational licensing. 

What is government occupational licensing? It is the practice of government enforcing training, fees, and other mandates individuals must meet to legally enter into and practice many professions regardless of someone’s skillset or the willingness of others to voluntarily use their services. 

In theory, government licensing is meant to protect consumers. In practice, it too often does the opposite — creating expensive, time-consuming, and unnecessary hurdles that prevent people from earning a living as they see fit, raise prices, and reduce availability of goods and services families need. Government licensing mandates are now applied on more than 20% of workers, and the burden varies dramatically depending on where someone lives. States like Oregon top the charts with the heaviest restrictions, while states like Kansas impose fewer — but every state erects hundreds of occupational licensing mandates that undermine labor freedom.   

The human cost of all this is real — but true to the American spirit, there are always success stories of those who fought to overcome barriers in their pursuit of liberty and opportunity.  

Take Melony (Melanie) Armstrong. After discovering her passion for natural hair braiding in Tupelo, Mississippi, she set out to open a business that could support her family and serve her community. Instead, she was told she needed to spend $10,000 and complete 18 months of cosmetology training — none of which taught hair braiding. Rather than accept a system designed to keep newcomers out, Melony fought back. After seven years, she won: the law changed, 300+ women registered as braiders the next day, and more than 4,000 Mississippians ultimately benefited from the reform. Melony later partnered with Stand Together to advance licensing reform opportunities nationwide.  

Or consider William (Bill) Burt, whose journey from incarceration to community leader in Waterloo, Iowa, is a testament to resilience and freedom. After learning to cut hair in prison, William wanted to bring dignity and connection to underserved neighborhoods through a mobile barbershop, Kut Kings. But Iowa law made mobile barbering illegal. With support from Americans for Prosperity Iowa, William worked with lawmakers to change the law — and in 2020, the state legalized mobile barbershops. As Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill, William said what countless others feel: “Finally, I can get to work helping underserved people in my community.”  

Melony and William each took one small step — and the impact multiplied. Their stories echo the spirit of the American founding: a belief in individual freedom, personal responsibility, and the dignity of work. 

As we commemorate the nation’s 250th year, we should ask: How many more people could pursue their version of the American Dream if we simply trusted people to work? 

Reforms already making a difference include: 

• Licensing reviews and rollbacks — Directly reducing and eliminating licensing barriers that fail to deliver important health and safety benefits while reducing access to valuable careers of would be workers and services of would be consumers.  
• Alternative consumer protection tools like inspections, bonding, and private certification — which improve accountability and protection for the public without blocking entry. 
• Legislation focused on the right to earn a Living — ensuring regulations must be justified by real health and safety concerns, not economic protectionism. Let consumers decide who provides services for them by taking the heavy hand of government out of the way.  
• Universal License Recognition — Model policies allow workers moving across state lines to continue their careers without redundant training or fees, relying even on experience without government licensing credentials when coming from states that don’t have the same licensing mandates. 28 states and counting have enacted reforms like this, which helps to bring a spotlight on also reducing internal state licensing barriers. From military to civilian families, economic mobility is increasing with this important reform.  

These are small steps with big consequences. Over time, occupational licensing has grown into one of the most significant barriers to mobility, contributing to higher consumer prices, fewer job opportunities, and reduced innovation. Removing unnecessary barriers doesn’t just improve markets — it restores liberty, the very principle we celebrate during America’s semiquincentennial. 

The Give Me Liberty theme reminds us that freedom is not abstract. The spirit of Patrick Henry’s words “give me liberty or give me death” shows up in the fighting spirit of individuals and communities to break down barriers to the enriching lives they wish to live. When we clear the path for people to work, we don’t just reduce regulation — we expand human flourishing. 

This anniversary, let us give people liberty to work and to work and to build the lives they dream of. 

Austen Bannan is an Employment Policy Fellow at Americans for Prosperity.