Bob makes some great points. From sea to sea shining sea across this great nation you have a very broad mix of people, people groups, mentalities, ways of doin' things, values, etc.
Some areas of this country would resent the idea that "some people over there are telling us how to do things over here." It must be part of that independent spirit that some how has been passed form generation to generation since the country's inception. Autonomy has a way of feeling more real when power and control remains as local as practical.
Being from IL, just outside of Chicago, I'd love to see at least a state license. Around here, within a given radius of my home town, there are different requirements for codes and licensing, it starts to become a real headache. To me it makes sense to at least have licensing requirements and codes be universal within a couple hour commute, but then you have to debate where the center of that circle is placed.
As a free people, I think it is more comforting to submit power and authority to a local jurisdiction and/or entity. That way if the need should arise to yank that authority back, it would be easier, only a small local uprising rather than another revolution.
