Dear Editor:

Q: What is black and gray and hangs from the ceiling?

A: An amateur electrician.

There are many occupations that present a danger not only to the professional but especially the consumer if the professional is incompetent. Mishaps happen even when an otherwise competent professional misses something or makes an honest mistake. It is no exaggeration that lives are at stake in many aspects of professional work.

Professional licensing acts to protect the public from incompetence and charlatans. We require of candidates for licensure of any profession to demonstrate their knowledge and competence through systems to testing and practice.

Some shortsighted politicians seem to think that weakening these protections is a good idea; so did the bureaucrats who thought launching the Challenger in the freezing cold was a good idea. Policing professional licensing qualifications is best left to the professionals not politicians.

Licensed professionals would also be poorly served by these proposed bills. Professionals currently practicing under a hard earned license would be competing against cheaper and less qualified individuals, forcing them to lower standards to cut costs or be priced out of the market.

Here the invisible hand of self interest does not apply as it assumes that the consumer is competent in judging the value of a service. It is because we are not competent in, say hanging light fixtures that we hire licensed electricians. We rely upon the stringency of the licensing process to help make this judgment.

Do not let politicians weaken professional licensing requirements. They may think that it will somehow save money, but in the final analysis it endangers lives.

Please call your legislator to urge them to oppose LD 1165, LD 763, LD 764, and LD 2254. These bills were introduced with the best of intentions but we all know where that road leads.

Fred W. Nehring

Boothbay