Politics

Cuccinelli says governments should stop silly regulations like barber shop laws

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli says the government should stop silly regulations, like saying who can and cannot cut your hair.

In his new book, “The Last Line of Defense,” the Republican attorney general in Virginia takes aim at laws and regulations that he argues “burden businesses” and are “unnecessary.” He specifically cites regulations by state governments of barber shops.

“I’m also not going to die from a bad haircut, so why is it to so critical to have a licensing process?” Cuccinelli wrote in his book, which comes out Feb. 12.

“State governments often impose training and licensing requirements on people who want to become barbers,” he explained.

Without these regulations, Cuccinelli argues people won’t be harmed. The market, he explains, will help people determine where to get haircuts.

“If barbers don’t do good work, they lose business,” he wrote. “Word spreads. Soon, the bad barbers go out of business.”

He says the regulations “prevent a certain proportion of folks from achieving – or even pursuing – that career.”

“Why? Because some people can’t afford the classes or licensing fees, or they can’t spare the time for the classes…or they can’t spare the time to wade through the additional government paperwork requirements associated with the licensing,” he said.

Added Cuccinelli: “Come on, people cut hair in their homes all the time without being licensed, and they seem pretty competent! And I don’t know about you, but my own firsthand experience proves that training and government licensing requirements do not automatically lead to good haircuts.”

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