BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 181 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 28, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS Susan Bonilla, Chair AB 181 Bonilla - As Amended April 23, 2015 SUBJECT: Professions and vocations: barbering and cosmetology. SUMMARY: Extends the regulatory authority for the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC) until January 1, 2020; requires the BBC to conduct a review of its current 1600-hour curriculum requirements for the Cosmetologist license; requires the BBC to review and revise protocols for its inspector program; requires the BBC to establish a Health and Safety Advisory Committee; and, makes minor and technical changes to delete obsolete code sections and references. EXISTING LAW: 1)Establishes the BBC which provides for the licensure and regulation of Barbers; Barber Apprentices; Cosmetology Apprentices; Cosmetologists; Electrologists; Estheticians; Manicurists; Establishments; and, Mobile Units, within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to administer and enforce the Barbering and Cosmetology Act (Act). (Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section 7301 et seq.) 2)Specifies that the BBC is comprised of nine members, five AB 181 Page 2 public and four professional; authorizes the BBC to appoint an executive officer (EO); and specifies that the BBC is subject to review of the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature, as specified. (BPC Section 7303.2) 3)Requires that the protection of the public is the highest priority for the BBC in exercising its licensing, regulatory, and disciplinary functions and whenever the protection of the public is inconsistent with other interests, the protection of the public is the priority. (BPC Section 7303.1) 4)Requires the BBC's EO and authorized representatives, as specified, to have access to, for the purpose of required inspections, any establishment or mobile unit during business hours or at any time in which barbering and cosmetology are being performed. (BPC Section 7313) 5)Requires, within 90 days after issuance of the establishment license, an inspection of the establishment for compliance with the applicable rules and regulations of the BBC. (BPC Section 7353 (a)(1)) 6) Requires the BBC to maintain a program of random and targeted inspections of establishments, as specified, and prohibits the BBC from reducing the number of employees assigned to perform random inspections, targeted inspections, and investigations related to field operations below the level funded, as specified. (BPC Section 7353(b)(d)) 7)Prohibits the practice of barbering, cosmetology, or electrolysis for compensation without a valid, unexpired provider license or in an establishment or mobile unit unless licensed by the BBC. (BPC Section 7317) AB 181 Page 3 8)Permits the practice of barbering and cosmetology outside of a licensed establishment when necessary due to illness or other physical or mental incapacitation of the recipient of the service when performed by an individual licensed by the BBC. (BPC 7318) THIS BILL: 9) Requires the BBC to conduct a study and review of the 1600-hour training requirement for Cosmetologists and report back to appropriate policy committees by November 1, 2018. 10)Requires the BBC to conduct a review of the Spanish-language examination and curriculum requirements to determine if by January 1, 2016, the pass rate for Spanish speakers did not increase to the average pass rate for all other language examinations during the two-year period prior to January 1, 2016. 11)Requires the BBC to adopt regulations that establish a protocol for inspecting establishments when an inspector has difficulty understanding or communicating with the owner, manager, or employees of the establishment due to language barriers. 12)Requires the BBC to establish a Health and Safety Advisory Committee to provide the BBC with advice and recommendations on health and safety issues before the BBC. 13)Makes other technical and clarifying amendments including deleting obsolete references to departments and reports. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal by the AB 181 Page 4 Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS: 14)Purpose. This bill is one of five author-sponsored sunset bills. According to the author, "The BBC ensures that applicants for licensure have completed the necessary training and passed both a written and practical examination in order to demonstrate that licensed individuals possess the knowledge and skills required to perform within the scope of their discipline in order to protect the public's health and safety. In addition, the BBC is responsible for carrying out many responsibilities which ensure the safety of consumers and help benefit the robust licensing populations in California. In an effort to improve the BBC's regulatory capacity and improve administrative inefficiencies, this bill will require the BBC to prioritize some of the issues raised in the Committee's background paper during its sunset review, including reviewing curriculum standards, ensuring that the curriculum and tests are appropriate for Spanish-language test takers, establishing a Health and Safety committee, and making technical changes to outdated sections of the Act." 15)Background. The BBC licenses and regulates over 550,000 licensees. Each profession has its own scope of practice, entry-level requirements, and professional settings, with some overlap in areas. The BBC's licensing population includes: Barbers; Barber Apprentices; Cosmetology Apprentices; Cosmetologists; Electrologists; Estheticians; Manicurists; Establishments; and, Mobile Units. The BBC's last sunset review was completed in 2013, and at that time it was granted a two-year extension to address outstanding issues as determined by the Legislature. Joint Oversight Hearings and Sunset Review of DCA Licensing Boards. In March of 2015, the Assembly Business and Professions Committee and the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee conducted multiple joint AB 181 Page 5 oversight hearings to review ten regulatory boards and other entities within the DCA. The sunset bills are intended to implement legislative changes recommended in the respective background reports drafted by the Committees for the agencies reviewed this year. The sunset review process. The sunset review process provides a formal mechanism for the DCA; the Legislature; the regulatory boards, bureaus and committees; interested parties; and stakeholders to make recommendations for improvements to the authority of consumer protection boards and bureaus. This is performed on a standard four-year cycle and was mandated by SB 2036 (McCorquodale) (Chapter 908, Statutes of 1994). Each eligible agency is required to submit to the Committees a report covering the entire period since last reviewed that includes, among other things, the purpose and necessity of the agency and any recommendations of the agency for changes or reorganization in order to better fulfill its purpose. During "sunset review," the Committees take public testimony and evaluate the eligible agency prior to the date the agency is scheduled to be repealed. An eligible agency is allowed to sunset unless the Legislature enacts a law to extend, consolidate, or reorganize the eligible agency. The legislation pertaining to this bill is based on specific issues raised and addressed in the report released by the Assembly Business and Professions Committee. The BBC was last reviewed in 2013 and received only a two-year sunset extension because of several concerns raised during the 2013 hearing that needed to be monitored more closely. While not all prior issues were fully resolved, the BBC addressed most of the issues to the satisfaction of the Committees. Therefore, this bill makes changes to the BBC as recommended in the Assembly Business and Professions Committee background paper, including extending the BBC;'s sunset date to January 1, 2020 and its authority to appoint an EO. Inspector Program. An important and essential arm of the BBC's enforcement activities is the Inspection Program, whose AB 181 Page 6 primary role is enforcing health and safety regulations. This is accomplished through directed, random, initial and targeted inspections of the 50,473 establishments and 283 schools of barbering, cosmetology, and electrology. Challenges with the Inspector Program are not unique to the BBC and have previously been raised by Legislative Committees and DCA audits. During the BBC's 2013 sunset review, the Committee's background paper cited "continuous problems with the Inspector Program" and requested the BBC to address numerous issues including the inappropriate use of the position, lack of proper training, and concerns with vacancies. In addition to the BBC's reported inspection challenges, stakeholders have also shared concerns with the inspection process, especially as it pertains to language barriers. As noted, the BBC regulates a diverse population, which includes many individuals with limited English proficiency, who cannot always understand English-language inspection forms or are met with communication problems during an inspection. Currently, it appears that the BBC does not have a standardized protocol or systematic process for inspectors when they encounter potential language barriers, which may complicate the inspection process and result in dissatisfactory outcomes for licensees. The BBC reports that in an effort to help better identify concerns of licensees regarding inspectors and the inspection process, it has translated complaint forms into Vietnamese, Spanish, and Korean. The BBC reports that it is also working with the DCA to provide training to inspectors. In order to help address some of the challenges with the Inspector Program, this bill will require the BBC to develop a protocol for inspecting establishments where language concerns exist. Curriculum Requirement. In 2009, the BBC reports that it transitioned to the national written examination. Since the transition, the BBC has seen a decline in the pass rates of the written examination. The BBC reports that this may result from new material on the examination being "current and relevant to today's practices" as the previous examination had been in circulation for many years and many schools often AB 181 Page 7 provided courses on how to pass the old version of the examination. It is unclear what, if any, updates, changes, or revisions were made to schools' curriculum standards or if reference materials were updated as a result of the transition to the national examination. This bill will require the BBC to review its current curriculum standards to ensure that the 1600-hour requirement for cosmetologists is warranted and that the materials being taught to students are relevant to today's practices. BPC Section 7362 specifies that the BBC is required to determine by regulation the subjects which must be completed, the approved courses (what material must be taught), including the minimum hours of technical instruction and practical operations that a student must complete for each subject. In addition, the Committee's background paper also noted concerns with the Spanish-language examination pass rate which has been low for a number of years. According to information from the United States Census Report in 2011, 43% of Californians, or more than 15 million residents, reported that they spoke a language other than English at home. While the BBC's mission is mainly to protect consumers, it also has a responsibility to its licensing population to ensure that current licensees and potential licensees are able to obtain the appropriate instruction and training necessary to meet California's safety standards balanced with a mission to expand employment and business opportunities for individuals throughout the State. The BBC has one of the highest licensing populations of all regulatory entities of DCA. Given the large licensing population, the BBC needs to ensure its diverse population obtains the appropriate education and upon completion of a BBC-approved curriculum, is able to pass the required licensing examinations. The Spanish-language pass rate issue has plagued the BBC during the last two sunset reviews and continues to be an issue. This bill will require the BBC to conduct a review of the Spanish-language AB 181 Page 8 examination and curriculum as specified. Advisory Committee. During the BBC's 2013 sunset review, the committee background paper raised current health and safety issues which continue to plague the beautification industry, especially in nail salons. The report stated, "nail salons are of particular concern due to the high preponderance of minority women working for extremely long hours in settings that are not properly ventilated and having constant contact with potentially dangerous chemicals linked to illness and reproductive health problems." Because the continued changes in the industry and new beautification products are brought to market, this bill requires the BBC to establish a permanent committee which is designated to review industry trends as they relate to health and safety standards to ensure the timely distribution of information about potential and growing concerns 16)Previous Related Legislation. SB 308 (Lieu) Chapter 333, Statutes of 2013, extends until January 1, 2018 the provisions of the Interior Design Law and the Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind and extends until January 1, 2016 the provisions of the BBC and the term of its executive officer, and makes various other technical changes and improvements to those provisions. AB 1545 (Eng), Chapter, 35 Statutes of 2008, re-established the DBC, the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board, the BVNPT, and the BBC within the DCA; establishes an executive officer for each board; repeals those provisions on January 1, 2012. REGISTERED SUPPORT: None on file. AB 181 Page 9 REGISTERED OPPOSITION: None on file. Analysis Prepared by:Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301