I'll go there. My ex-wife worked without a license for a long time and bribed a school to forge hours. That way she could go straight to the test and wouldn't have to do the six months and thousands of dollars.

She worked for various businesses in various states. They all tolerated this as well as other stuff like working without a green card and keeping multiple sets of books in order to cheat taxes. Business owners themselves would routinely cut corners with regard to hygiene. They occasionally got caught but the fines were a slap on the wrist that did not prevent the behavior. Businesses being closed for health or occupational violations were very rare.

In short, it was all a farce.

What I'd have preferred to see is less onerous schooling for law-abiding people and better and stricter enforcement all around. Registration fees could be higher in order for better enforcement to exist, and in such a way they would be able to chase bad actors out of the market as well as protect consumers.

As someone who has a very different occupational license, I would also complain that the people who write licensing tests are themselves unlicensed. If they are going to turn my licensing process into a guessing game about whether I should answer the words on paper or the thoughts that are inferred to be going on in their heads, then the process is broken. Let me assure you: it's very broken.