Would loosening licensing and certification requirements boost small business?

Many small San Jose merchants and businesses complain loudly about the miles of red tape necessary to get licenses and accreditation from the city or state to run their businesses. Some governments are considering doing away with licenses for some small businesses altogether: 

"If this North Carolina law passes, and acupuncturists, locksmiths, and some other professionals will no longer need licenses to offer their services, the sky will not fall. If customers find licensure to be valuable, then private certifying agencies will likely step in, and businesses will choose whether the benefit of pursuing certification outweighs the costs. Consumers will decide what the value of certification is by deciding what premium they will pay to go with a certified service provider. This outcome would offer the best of both worlds, because nothing would be imposed on anyone. Whether to obtain certification, and whether to use certified providers, will be voluntary. And voluntary is good."

Read the whole thing here.