State Representative Ron Ferguson — House Bill 129 Testimony, House Commerce and Labor Committee

Summary

State Representative Ron Ferguson testified in opposition to HB129 before the House Commerce and Labor Committee on May 2nd, 2023. The testimony says the bill would place costs on the roofing industry that would ultimately be passed on to the consumer. It poses the questions of whether to increase the cost of commercial roofing and whether to raise barriers to entry for those who choose to work in the field. It says the roof must still pass inspection by a building inspector regardless of who installs it, and calls the bill unnecessary protectionism of an industry.

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Full text

                           State Representative Ron Ferguson
                                  House Bill 129 Testimony
                            House Commerce and Labor Committee
                                      May 2nd, 2023

Chairman Johnson, Vice Chair Manchester, Ranking Member McNally and members of the
Commerce and Labor committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify in opposition to HB129.

All consequences which result by adding any licensure which doesn’t currently exist should
always be taken in to equal consideration. Simply stated, “a license of any sort is essentially a
government permission slip.” This bill, if it were to become law, would place costs on the
roofing industry which would ultimately be passed on to the consumer. So the questions we need
to ask are,

1. “Should we increase the cost of commercial roofing?”
2. “Should we raise the barriers to entry on those who choose to work in this field?”
3. “Do any perceived benefits outweigh the real negatives of this legislation?”

Some arguments have been made for a necessity of safety, but it seems the people of Ohio have
been safe without the existence of this license. One of the reasons is likely because no matter
who installs a commercial roof; the roof must still pass inspection by a building inspector. This
bill really boils down to unnecessary protectionism of an industry, and in Ohio, we should
continue encouraging competition not price-increasing, anti-consumer licenses.


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