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: 9/4/15 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: Business and professions
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill extends the operation of the Board of
Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC) until January 1, 2020, and makes
changes to the laws governing the BBC's regulation of barbers,
cosmetologists, estheticians, electrologists, manicurists,
apprentices and establishments. This bill also makes numerous
substantive, technical, and minor non-controversial changes to
various provisions of the non-healing arts boards regulated by
the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/15 make technical changes to
provisions contained within the bill and also maintain and
cleanup the Business and Professions Code related to several
non-health regulatory boards under the DCA.
AB 181
Page 2
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 BBC within the 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)
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
AB 181
Page 3
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
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 in the
Act. Makes numerous substantive, technical, and minor
non-controversial changes to various provisions of the
non-healing arts boards regulated by the DCA.
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
AB 181
Page 4
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
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
AB 181
Page 5
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
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: Yes
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: (Verified9/3/15)
Manicube
Professional Beauty Federation of California
AB 181
Page 6
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/3/15)
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
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
9/8/15 15:27:22
**** END ****