Key Takeaways:

• While Tennessee is generally considered a more free-market-oriented state, one area it regulates more heavily is in occupational licensing, essentially a government permission slip to do a job;
• Tennessee has over 263 different occupational licenses, registrations, and certifications, covering 30 percent of the Tennessee workforce;
• The economic cost of obtaining these onerous licensing regulations conservatively costs Tennessee workers over
  $279 million just to enter an occupation of their choice; and
• Renewing their existing license costs these Tennessee workers nearly $38 million per year.