Sunlight from the Sunset Committee; misbehavior in Alabama licensing boards: op-ed

This is a guest opinion column

In recent weeks, two Alabama occupational licensing boards have had misbehavior aired publicly: The pharmacy board and the dental examiners board. This isn’t the first time occupational licensing boards have made state or national news, and it probably won’t be the last.

What’s more concerning, however, is that attempts at correcting or preventing this behavior in Alabama have ultimately failed. As occupational licensing restrictions and the bureaucracy surrounding them remain high in Alabama, residents and professionals can expect to hear about more misconduct by licensing boards.

The Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts released reports on both the Board of Dental Examiners and State Board of Pharmacy in August, and the results are now being discussed in hearings with the joint Sunset Committee.

The Board of Pharmacy notably reported a decrease in fines and penalties of approximately $500,000 while seeing a similar increase in miscellaneous income. In addition, the board charged fines incorrectly, didn’t make deposits on time, and purchased two vehicles without soliciting bids for lower offers. The Board of Dental Examiners had similar issues in waiving fees, incorrectly assigning leave and vacation time to employees, making unallowable purchases, and purchasing two vehicles without soliciting bids. Both boards were also cited for issues in keeping minutes, posting notices of meetings, and other public disclosure of board behavior.

This isn’t the first time occupational licensing boards have been scrutinized for misbehavior in Alabama. Just last year, the Sunset Committee noted issues with the Board of Massage Therapy after receiving a report from the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.

Nor is misbehavior reserved to Alabama. In 2021, West Virginia made headlines after its state licensing boards had major budget surpluses, illustrating one of the issues with lack of oversight. In 2013, the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners went up against the FTC in the Supreme Court, after using their power to prevent businesses from offering teeth whitening services, without direct approval from the state.

The people of Alabama deserve reform. In a recent report from the Archbridge Institute, myself and co-authors found that Alabama ranks fifth in the nation for overall barriers created through occupational licensing and fourth overall in active licenses. The more licenses and licensing boards a state has, the more possibility for this type of behavior to persist. Reforms have been attempted this year, in SB224 and HB11, but both bills appear to be dead on arrival; SB224 was indefinitely postponed, and HB11 never made it out of committee.

A 2015 paper from the White House highlights occupational licensing policy and potential reforms, one of which Alabama implements: Sunset Review. Sunset Review is a useful tool, but only a few boards come up for review each year. For 2025, only eight boards are being reviewed and they will not be reviewed again for years.

Another way to ensure oversight of licensing boards is through independent or public members of boards. Including independent government board members allows the state to have more oversight. Including public members allows boards to continue to have professional expertise while having at least one member with the public’s or outside interest in mind. Neither the Pharmacy Board nor the Board of Dental Examiners have members outside their profession.

Recent audits are shining a light on some of the issues plaguing Alabama’s licensing boards. Unless we want to see more of the same, much more reform is needed.

Noah J. Trudeau serves as Assistant Professor of Data Analytics, Troy University. He is a Research Fellow at the Archbridge Institute.