Navigating handyman licensing in north Jersey: $650 renewal just hit and I'm rethinking the whole cert game

Been a handyman in north Jersey for 15 years, mostly doing drywall patches, deck repairs, and the occasional LVP flooring install. Just got slapped with a $650 renewal fee for my state contractor license, and now the township's pushing for extra certs on lead paint handling since so many old houses here have it. Watched that Tommy Mello video on scaling without getting buried in red tape, and it got me thinking, do I really need all these certs for the residential gigs I run? Guy in the Handyman Nation Facebook group was ranting about how it adds up to over 10% of his yearly take, especially with the CE hours you gotta clock. I saw a post on r/handyman last month where someone ditched half their certs and didn't miss a beat. Feels like the regs are just padding pockets, but I don't wanna risk a fine on a $2k kitchen remodel job. Anyone else in zone 5 dealing with this BS and found a way to streamline it?

Man, same here in the northeast, those renewal fees are a kick in the nuts every year.