LeNae Denson
LeNae Denson of Cleaveland the Florist in Mobile, Ala., teaches a class on English garden flower arrangements during Providence Hospital Foundation's Festival of Flowers in Mobile, Ala., on March 20, 2014. Florists must obtain occupational licenses to work in some states. Is Alabama one of them? Take our quiz below to find out. (Sharon Steinmann/steinmann@al.com)
Troy University professor Daniel Smith calls it a "permission slip."
Alabama, like every other state, requires workers in certain professions to pay fees, obtain training and pass tests in order to ply their trades. Every state, for instance, has these special requirements for doctors and lawyers.
But in a study for the school's Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy, Smith detailed that occupational licensing requirements apply to a quarter of Alabama's workforce. Smith argues that many of the requirements have little or no benefit to the public and make it harder for people to enter those fields.
That, Smith contends, keeps prices artificially high for consumers and diminishes the employment prospects for the poor.
Defenders, meanwhile, counter that licensing requirements offer an important public health and safety protection.
Take our quiz. Do you know which if these professions are specially licensed in Alabama? Many of the ones here that are not are licensed do come under regulation by some other states.