Protect Who?

Dustin Matocha of Empower Texans writes about several bills that were filed this session that look to protect public interest, but might have a secondary purpose.  Matocha explains how these bills are for  “public safety,” and most were written by republicans.  This seems out of place since they are the ones that typically are for a free market, and these new bills would hurt small businesses.  Matocha uses several examples of these bills to support his case.  The first is SB 311 by Senator John Carona.  This bill would require all roofing contractors to obtain a license from the stated by passing a test, providing proof of liability insurance, undergo criminal background checks, along with paying fees.  This would put a lot of strain on small to medium-sized roofing companies, possibly putting them out of business.  This is a good argument.  Why would a Republican be for government regulations on small businesses?  This to me doesn’t make sense and should raise some red flags, which is what Matocha is addressing. He also mentions several other bills, like one that would require cat and dog dealers to be licensed with the state and require mandatory veterinary examinations, and another that would require “rainwater harvesting” to become a licensed plumber.  While I don’t disagree with some of these regulations, I’m also not a republican. I can see how they would hurt businesses and this leads me to believe that there’s an ulterior motive for these bills.  The senators that wrote these bills have special interests in these areas, and are not looking out for the public, just there own pocket.  Matocha does a good job of giving examples to support his ideas.  After reading his post I would have to say I would agree with what he has to say, but I also agree with some (not all) of the bills he mentioned.