"Gary Coffman" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 18:03:42 GMT, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:
"Spehro Pefhany" wrote in message
.. .
Mmm.. are there not licensing barriers for Professional Engineers,
construction contractors and such like? I think there are *some*
barriers, just not that many.

They really aren't barriers. They're just cases in which you may have to
be
licensed in the state in which you practice. My wife went through that
with
her teaching certificate. It's just a duplicative bureacratic procedure,
not
a barrier against practicing her profession.

It would seem to be a violation of Article IV section 1 of the US
Constitution.
That requires each state to provide full faith and credit for the acts of
other
states. That's why, for example, your driver's license is good in any
state,
not just in the state which issued it.

"Full faith and credit" applies primarily to judicial proceedings.
Misinterpretation of Article IV is rampant. Take a look at 28 U.S.C. Sec.
1738-1739 for laws that reflect Court doctrine on the subject of "full faith
and credit." It's all about legal proceedings and court judgments.

You're more likely referring to the "priviledges and immunities" clause,
which is in Sec. 2. That's applied mostly to states discriminating against
non-residents in licensing, not in the states' authority to license.
Essentially, licensing is a states' rights issue, and the supposed
constitutional issue regarding states respecting each others' driving
priviledges is primarily a matter of practice that grew up without Court
challenges, and is today called the "driver's license model" of comity under
Article IV. The Court has never directly ruled on it as far as I know.

In other words, you'll find no legal comfort there, nor any Constitutional
history to support your view.


By the same measure, professional licenses obtained in one state should
be honored by all other states. But they aren't, because the licenses are
primarily a way of implementing state taxes on professionals.

That's a supposition on your part. Firstly, professional licensing has a
history that goes back to common law, and there is nothing in the
Constitution about it. So the states enact licensing laws for a variety of
reasons, under the doctrine of states' rights.

(Nearly two
thirds of the questions on the state electrical contractor's exam I took
were about taxes, and the forms required to be filed to allow the state
to collect them.)

Maybe you can be a tax consultant now. g

Ed Huntress