Arizona put a man under investigation for giving free haircuts to the homeless.
As expected there was a pubic backlash. In return the governor put up a page where you could email the state rules and regulations that you thought should be overturned as long as it did not hurt consumers.
Here is what I wrote.
Governor Ducey,
When I was in college I started a residential painting company. I quickly outgrew the $1,000 threshold for unlicensed contractors. It was always a burning concern in my mind that I was a low level criminal in the eyes of the state of Arizona. All I did was put paint on walls.
One day while researching the process to get a license, I read an article about an unlicensed painter that was sentenced to 180 days in jail for not having a license. The same day I read that, I read about a Dallas Cowboys player who was charged with DUI manslaughter and was given a 180 day jail sentence. In my mind I am thinking that you can accidentally kill someone and get the same jail sentence as some guy slopping paint on the walls to pay the bills (I know they are different legal systems).
In my last year of college I told myself that I was leaving the painting industry after graduation and I would work as an accountant from then on. But something changed. I started winning just about every bid I was called to. After expenses I was making about $20 an hour. Right before graduation I got a call to bid an apartment complex. I had accepted a job offer as an accountant at that time but I thought to myself, "why not? This could really lead to much bigger things..." I ended up being offer $50,000 to paint this apartment complex. I did turn down the offer for several reasons, but one of them was that I did not have a license.
Thank you for your time and also giving the citizens of Arizona a voice by doing this.
Steve McClair
Great letter @steve-mcclair . It is sad but you have to have a license to be be in business in Arizona. They want you to pay for that. In other words the government (cartel) is running a racket.
I know it. We are low grade criminals in the eyes of Arizona.
Punishable by heavy fines and years in club AZ state pen.
Imagine getting loaded up into the pig mobile and telling the cop, "all I did was put paint on walls." As the cop closes to door he says, "tell it to the judge."