BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 181| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 181 Author: Bonilla (D), et al. Amended: 8/31/15 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE BUS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 9-0, 7/6/15 AYES: Hill, Bates, Berryhill, Block, Galgiani, Hernandez, Jackson, Mendoza, Wieckowski SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/27/15 AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/1/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Professions and vocations: barbering and cosmetology SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill extends the operation of the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology until January 1, 2020 and makes changes to the laws governing the Board's regulation of barbers, cosmetologists, estheticians, electrologists, manicurists, apprentices and establishments. ANALYSIS: Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of barbering, cosmetology and electrolysis under the Barbering and Cosmetology Act (Act) by the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC) within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) and authorizes the BBC to appoint an executive officer subject to the approval of the Director of the DCA, and repeals these provisions on January 1, 2016. (BPC § 7303) AB 181 Page 2 This bill: 1)Requires the BBC to conduct a study and review of the 1,600-hour training requirement for cosmetologists, conduct an occupational analysis of the cosmetology profession in California, and conduct a review of the national written examination for cosmetologists and of the practical examination, in order to evaluate whether both examinations assess critical competencies for California cosmetologists and meet professional testing standards and report the findings to the Assembly Business and Professions Committee and the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee (Committees) no later than November 1, 2018. 2)Requires the BBC to conduct a review of the Spanish-language examination 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. 3)Requires the BBC to adopt 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 and requires the BBC to evaluate the protocol every two years to ensure the protocol remains current. 4)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. 5)Authorizes the BBC to issue a personal service permit to an individual who meets the criteria for a personal service permit set forth in regulations promulgated by BBC. Defines "personal service permit" as a permit that authorizes an individual to perform professional services, for which he or she holds a license pursuant to this chapter, outside of an establishment, in accordance with the regulations established by the BBC. Requires BBC to hold, at a minimum, two stakeholder meetings. Requires BBC to determine the appropriate licensing categories that may apply for a personal service permit in order to protect consumer safety. Requires BBC to authorize a personal service permit holder to perform AB 181 Page 3 services outside of a licensed establishment. Prohibits the BBC from exempting a personal service permit holder from any of the BBC's existing regulations or requirements on health and safety. Prohibits BBC from requiring a personal service permit holder to be employed by an establishment, unless the BBC determines that it would be necessary in order to maintain consumer safety. Provides that the regulations may require an applicant for a personal service permit to have proof of liability insurance and to pass a criminal background clearance. Provides that a personal service permit, with a fee no greater than $50, shall be valid for two years and shall be renewed pursuant to a fee no greater than $80, prior to expiration. 6)Requires BBC to report on the progress of the regulatory process and issuance of personal service permits to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2017. 7)Makes other technical and clarifying amendments including deleting obsolete references to departments and reports. Background In 2015, the Committees conducted joint oversight hearings to review 12 regulatory entities including BBC. This bill is intended to implement legislative changes as recommended by staff of the Committees reflected in a Background Paper on the BBC, as well as the discussion stemming from an oversight hearing on BBC. 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. BBC's membership is comprised of nine members: five public and four professional. As a special fund entity, the BBC receives no General Fund (GF) support, relying solely on fees set in statute and collected from licensing and renewal fees. During the review of BBC, the following major issues were discussed; recommendations for each issue comprise the AB 181 Page 4 significant policy changes proposed in this bill to the Act and BBC operations. Analysis of curriculum and practical examination. The determination was made that BBC should conduct an occupational analysis of the current practical examination to determine if it is still a reliable and valuable measure of minimal competency or if any changes are necessary as well as a review of the current 1,600-hour curriculum requirements for the Cosmetologist license to determine if any curriculum changes are necessary. Analysis of Spanish language examination and language access issues. Based on concerns about low passage rates for individuals who take the licensing exam in Spanish and effective communication by BBC to its diverse licensing population, this bill requires the BBC to conduct a review of the Spanish-language examination and requires BBC to review and revise protocols for its inspector program where language barriers exist between inspectors, licensees and owners. Health and safety for hair care and beauty professionals. Stemming from concerns that the current BBC-designed health and safety curriculum may not accurately reflect the latest industry-related technology and chemical advancements in the nail care industry, this bill requires the BBC to establish a Health and Safety Advisory Committee to provide recommendations. Freelance certification. Currently in California, all BBC-regulated beautification services are required to be obtained within a BBC licensed establishment. Current trends in the beautification industry have found that consumers are beginning to seek services outside the walls of a traditional brick and mortar establishment such as homes, hotels, businesses, and other non-traditional locations. In order for the BBC to continue to effectively regulate the beautification market, it is important to make sure that service demands are consistent with the services being offered by licensed professionals. Currently, a cosmetologist performing a hair style for a bride at a hotel or other venue is guilty of unlicensed activity because they are operating outside of a BBC-licensed establishment. In order to ensure that consumers are able to obtain services at a location outside of a AB 181 Page 5 licensed establishment, while still ensuring the relevant safety guidelines and standards are met, it was determined that there may be a need to revise current laws in order to permit licensees to perform services outside of a physical establishment. This bill authorizes the BBC, through regulations, to issue a personal service permit to licensees. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, there are no significant costs anticipated due to the extension of BBC that would impact the Barbering and Cosmetology Contingent Fund. This bill will result in one-time additional costs of about $510,000 for additional requirements imposed in the bill impacting the Barbering and Cosmetology Contingent Fund and ongoing costs of about $70,000 per year for issuing new personal service permits. This bill will also result in unknown costs for enforcing licensing requirements relating to the new personal service permit and anticipated ongoing fee revenues of about $5 million per year for new personal service permits, as BBC anticipates that about 15% of licensees will seek the new permit. SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15) Manicube Professional Beauty Federation of California OPPOSITION: (Verified8/25/15) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Supporters believe that the BBC is deserving of an extension of its operations and cite the importance of the personal services permit provisions contained AB 181 Page 6 in this bill. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/1/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Hadley Prepared by:Sarah Mason / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104 8/30/15 19:49:07 **** END ****