The legislature hereby adopts the following policies regarding the regulation of certain professions and vocations:
(1) The regulation and licensing of professions and vocations shall be undertaken only where reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety, or welfare of consumers of the services; the purpose of regulation shall be the protection of the public welfare and not that of the regulated profession or vocation;(2) Regulation in the form of full licensure or other restrictions on certain professions or vocations shall be retained or adopted when the health, safety, or welfare of the consumer may be jeopardized by the nature of the service offered by the provider;(3) Evidence of abuses by providers of the service shall be accorded great weight in determining whether regulation is desirable;(4) Professional and vocational regulations which artificially increase the costs of goods and services to the consumer shall be avoided except in those cases where the legislature determines that this cost is exceeded by the potential danger to the consumer;(5) Professional and vocational regulations shall be eliminated when the legislature determines that they have no further benefits to consumers;(6) Regulation shall not unreasonably restrict entry into professions and vocations by all qualified persons; and(7) Fees for regulation and licensure shall be imposed for all vocations and professions subject to regulation; provided that the aggregate of the fees for any given regulatory program shall not be less than the full cost of administering that program.L 1977, c 70, pt of §2; am L 1980, c 142, §1; am L 1996, c 45, §1