> So because some licenses don't have ongoing re-certification requirements, that means all license are bad?

That is not at all what I said. I was addressing how licensure does very little to prove competence for the three trades specified in the post.

> Couldn't it just be that a "programming license" has regular testing and re-certification?

How many licenses require recertification? Why do you think a programming one would? Continuing education requirements do not count for this, as they are mere completion measures.

> Because a license/certification test is the exact definition of "skills/competency assessment".

Yes, and this test needs to be passed once. The longer ago it was, the less it says about the person now.