SO WHO'S NEED IS THE CERTIFICATE REALLY SERVING?

KY Jurisdoctor--

I thought you might be interested in the effort now underway to bring some free-market reform to the moving industry in Kentucky. Not long ago, I filed a lawsuit against the constitutionality of the state's "certificate of public convenience and necessity" requirement, which says that if you want to run a moving company, you basically have to get permission from all of the state's existing moving companies!

When you apply for a license to run a moving company, the state notifies all the existing movers and gives them the opportunity to file an objection, and when an objection is filed, then you're required to hire a lawyer and go to a hearing to prove that there's a "public need" for a new moving company.

How you actually prove something like that is anyone's guess, since it's really not possible for government agents to know what the "public needs" when it comes to moving services. But existing moving firms use this law as a way to block their own competition, so they love it.

We represent Raleigh Bruner and his company Wildcat Moving. On Monday, the federal district court judge refused to throw the lawsuit out, as the government had requested: http://blog.pacificlegal.org/2013/court-refuses-to-throw-out-plfs-challenge-to-kentuckys-mover-cartel/

Meanwhile, there's an effort to repeal the law we're challenging. The Senate yesterday passed that bill, and now it's going to the House. But I understand it faces some significant opposition, so it may be a close thing. The Bill is SB 132: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/13RS/SB132.htm  -  http://blog.pacificlegal.org/2013/kentucky-takes-first-step-to-abolish-anti-competitive-mover-licensing-law/

I wonder if you might help to let people know about this important reform by blogging about it on OSI Speaks? You can learn more about our lawsuit here: http://blog.pacificlegal.org/2012/fighting-for-economic-liberty-in-kentucky/

Thanks!

Timothy Sandefur
Pacific Legal Foundation
(916) 419-7111