BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 181|
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                                   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)








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          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  







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            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  







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          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  







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            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  







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          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


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