The California Senate Appropriations Committee conducted a hearing on SB 803, which was amended last week into a sweeping overhaul of the state’s Barbering and Cosmetology Act. As currently drafted, the measure would: deregulate hair cutting and styling services; provide for one-to-one licensure reciprocity for an individual currently licensed in good standing by another state; terminate the pre-application program; reduce the course of instruction for barbering and cosmetology to 1,000 hours, and; increase the course of instruction for nail care from not less than 350 hours to 400 hours. Schools would however lose the discretion to teach hours above the state threshold for licensure. The measure also statutorily establishes barbering, cosmetology, skincare, and nail care curriculums.
Click here for a document detailing the key provisions. The Senate Appropriations Committee has referred the bill to the suspense file, which is a holding mechanism for bills with a significant fiscal impact.
Thanks to Brian Newman, AACS State Relations consultant, for this information.
