BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 181
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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
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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)
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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REGISTERED OPPOSITION:
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301