Alabama The Board of Nursing has promulgated emergency rules, effective June 21, 2024, that repeal and replace Alabama Massage Therapy Licensing Board Administrative Code. The regulations were necessary due to the passage of Alabama Act 2024-362, which made significant changes to Alabama’s massage therapy statute and temporarily provides that the Board of Nursing assume all duties and functions of the Alabama Massage Therapy Licensing Board until the establishment of the Office of Occupational and Professional Licensing on or before November 1, 2024.
California The Senate Appropriations Committee utilized Senate Rule 28.8 last week to send AB 2166 to the Senate floor. The rule allows the Chair to bypass a bill hearing when state costs are not significant. As previously reported, AB 2166 would require schools to provide chemical and hairstyling services training for “all hair types and textures, including, but not limited to, various curl or wave patterns, hair strand thicknesses, and volumes of hair.”
Massachusetts The Senate Ways and Means Committee passed a substitute to S2477 late last month. The measure – now S2904 – would require cosmetology schools to teach at least one hour of domestic violence and sexual assault awareness. It would also require cosmetology schools and salons to post information about the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline. S2904 was subsequently passed by the Senate without a recorded vote and is currently in the House Ways and Means Committee. In a similar fashion, the House Ways and Means Committee amended H3045, which prohibits license revocation for a student loan default. The measure – now H4937 – includes an emergency preamble to make it effective upon enactment. H4937 was passed by the House without a recorded vote and is currently in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) signed HB 158 law in late July. The measure designed to harmonize barber and cosmetology code following the consolidated of the professions under a combined Board in 2018, includes the Cosmetology Licensure Compact and language specifying that the Board must adopt rules specifying a passing score for the barbering examination that cannot exceed 75 percent. Currently, an individual must attain at least a 75 percent score on each part of the barber examination to be eligible for a barber license.
The Act – effective October 24, 2024 – provides for the creation of a single school license (instead of separate barber school licenses and school of cosmetology licenses) and allows a school to employ individuals who are not licensed barber instructors to teach subjects related to business and management at the school. Under current and continuing law, a school offering cosmetology instruction may employ an individual not licensed under the Cosmetology Act to teach these subjects. Other provisions of interest establish temporary pre-examination work permits for barbers; lower the age to apply for a barber license or to start barbering school to 16 years of age, eliminate a requirement that a barber student complete 200 additional hours of training before re-taking the licensing exam, and; prevent the board from charging interest or penalty fees for unpaid fines.
According to an official summary, an applicant must meet the following general requirements to be issued a school license, which are the current law requirements for a school of cosmetology license: - Maintain a course of training for the branch or branches of cosmetology or barbering to be taught at the school that is equal to the requirements under the law for an individual to be granted a license (similar to current law for barber school licenses);
- Have sufficient equipment to teach all subjects in the curriculum (similar to current law for barber school licenses);
- Notify the Board of each new student and keep records related to the student’s progress (similar to current law for barber school licenses);
- Keep a record of attendance if the school offers clock hours (added by the bill for schools that teach barbering);
- File a surety bond with the Board in the amount of $10,000 (similar to current law for barber school licenses);
- Establish an internal procedure for processing complaints (added by the bill for schools that teach barbering).
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