HOUSE BILL REPORT

SHB 1063

As Passed House:

February 11, 2015

Title: An act relating to cosmetology, hair design, barbering, esthetics, and manicuring.

Brief Description: Concerning cosmetology, hair design, barbering, esthetics, and manicuring.

Sponsors: House Committee on Business & Financial Services (originally sponsored by Representatives Kirby, Blake and Ryu).

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Business & Financial Services: 1/16/15, 1/20/15 [DPS].

Floor Activity:

Passed House: 2/11/15, 93-5.

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 11 members: Representatives Kirby, Chair; Ryu, Vice Chair; Vick, Ranking Minority Member; Parker, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Blake, G. Hunt, Hurst, Kochmar, McCabe, Santos and Stanford.

Staff: David Rubenstein (786-7153).

Background:

The Department of Licensing (Department) regulates cosmetology, barbering, manicuring, and esthetics. A person must be licensed to practice these professions. A barber license allows the cutting, trimming, arranging, dressing, curling, shampooing, shaving, and mustache and beard design of the face, neck, and scalp. A cosmetology license allows all these practices and, in addition, allows the following practices involving chemicals: permanent waving; chemical relaxing; straightening; bleaching; lightening; and coloring. The license also allows waxing and tweezing. Finally, the cosmetologist license also allows some of the practices permitted for manicurists and estheticians. To receive a license, a person must meet training requirements and pass an exam.

The minimum training requirements are as follows:

A reciprocity provision allows a person with the equivalent license in another state to take the examination. The Department prepares and administers the exams, establishes minimum safety and sanitation standards, adopts rules, and otherwise administers the provisions. The Cosmetology, Barbering, Esthetics, and Manicuring Advisory Board (Board) advises the Department. Washington does not have a license that allows barbering and the use of chemicals. To use chemicals, a practitioner must obtain a cosmetology license.

Summary of Substitute Bill:

Hair design, defined to include various practices, including cutting, styling, extensions, straightening, and coloring of hair, is separated from the general cosmetology license. In order to obtain a hair design license, the applicant must have 1,400 hours of training or 1,750 hours of apprenticeship. The Department is granted rule-making authority to establish minimum safety and sanitation standards for hair designers and hair designers are added to the Board that advises the state on matters of cosmetology, barbering, esthetics, and manicuring.

Online training of license applicants is permitted.

Instructors in curriculum programs for cosmetology, hair design, barbering, manicuring, esthetics, or master esthetics may forego 300 hours of training with evidence of prior experience in those fields, or all 500 hours with evidence of 500 hours of experience as an instructor in another state.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) Washington is the only state in the nation without a hair design license.  Washington should be the same as other states.  This bill is also necessary to establish reciprocity with other states, like Oregon, that have a license similar to hair design.  Out-of-state hair dressers have to take time off work to undergo extensive and expensive training that they do not need.

Most people who just want to do hair have to go through an extensive training program that they neither need or want.  Instead, they have to pay for a license that allows them to do manicures, pedicures, or facials, but they have never and will never do them. We need more hairdressers.  The trend over the past few decades is that the cosmetology license is not as desired as hair design would be.  Students should have the option to train for what they love without having to train for all of the rest.

Instructor experience and online training are also important to cosmetology. Current law does not account for instructor experience that would encourage competent instructors to teach or allow online training.

This is the same bill as the one that passed the House last year, but died in the Senate.  Hopefully this is the year this bill passes.

(Opposed) Years ago there was just a barbering license and a cosmetology license.  Nail tech and skin care were then added and cosmetology was changed.  This made cosmetology a unique license nationwide. Barbers then lost the right to use chemicals, creating another unique license.  These licenses have not been fixed for decades.  We want to return the full-scope license to cosmetologists and barbers, and especially for military barbers coming from out-of-state.  Oregon has similar problems that it needs to fix.  Fixing the barber license or having a hair dressing endorsement under barbering would be easier for schools because they would not have to create an entirely new curriculum and go through certification.

Persons Testifying: (In support) Representative Kirby, prime sponsor; Gena Wikstrom, Northwest Career Colleges; David Kile, Victoria's Academy; Lisa Pottruff, Paroba College; and Mark Johnson, Washington Retail Association.

(Opposed) Janiece Hoggatt, A Better Day Salon.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.