Arkansas The House voted unanimously last week to pass a bill updating and amending the state’s barbering act. Of interest to barber schools and colleges, HB 1673 would require a minimum of 16 chairs in a training room, which is an increase of one from current law. The measure also deletes language stipulating how schools must structure their daily schedules. However, they still must post a daily schedule in their general clinic.
The bill was subsequently reported from the Senate Public Health Welfare and Labor Committee and is eligible for consideration on the Senate floor.
The state’s Interstate Massage Compact (IMpact) bill – HB 1217 – was signed into law last week by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) making Arkansas the third state to enact IMpact. The Compact will become effective “on the date on which the Compact statute is enacted into law” by the seventh member state.
California AB 625 was amended earlier this month by the bill’s sponsor. As currently drafted, the measure would eliminate the state’s 600-hour hairstyling license and deregulate “natural hair braiding,” “natural hair styling,” and “threading.”
The bill remains in the Assembly Business and Professions Committee, which has scheduled an April 29, 2025, hearing on the bill.
Hawaii The Senate voted 23 to 2 earlier this month to pass a Cosmetology Licensure Compact bill – SB 1619. The measure has been transmitted to the House and referred the chamber’s Consumer Protection & Commerce, Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, and Finance Committees.
Idaho The following bills received final legislative approval last week with unanimous Senate votes.
H 120 – The bill would eliminate licensure for "retail thermal styling equipment dealers." H 121 – The bill would deregulate makeup artistry. H 122 – The bill would deregulate makeover and glamour photography businesses. H 122 was already signed into law by Governor Brad Little (R) and became effective on March 13, 2025. The other bills are currently awaiting Governor Little’s signature.
Illinois The House Health Care Licenses Committee has scheduled hearings on Wednesday and Thursday – depending on the pace of the agenda – on several bills of interest, including:
HB 2337 – A bill to expand online introduction to up to 50 percent of the program’s length and allow up to 10 percent of required hours to be completed in an internship program supervised by a licensed professional. HB 3460 – A bill to authorize U.S. Department of Labor registered apprenticeships for barbering, cosmetology, esthetics, and nail tech. HB 3854 – An hour reduction bill. HB 3318 – A bill to permit the use of hydrodermabrasion devices when done for cosmetic or beautifying purposes. HB 3356 – A hair braiding deregulation bill. HB 3684 – A bill to extend the sunset of the Barber, Cosmetology, Esthetics, Hair Braiding, and Nail Technology Act to January 1, 2031.
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Indiana The Senate passed HB 1320 on Tuesday after the chamber’s Pensions and Labor Committee voted 10 to 1 last week to favorably the bill. As previously reported, the bill would expand U.S. Department of Labor registered apprenticeships to barbering and manicuring. Once enrolled, the bill will be transmitted to Governor Mike Braun (R) for signature into law.
Iowa The House of Representatives voted 67 to 29 Monday to pass HF 711. As previously reported, the bill – initially introduced as HF 49 – would create a barbering and cosmetology establishment training program that would allow participating salons/shops to employ unlicensed individuals to shampoo, cut hair, color, and style “under the supervision of a licensee who regularly provides the services.” It states, “a person providing services without a license must first complete two hours of education related to barbering and cosmetology laws in this state and rules and sanitation, as determined by the board by rule, before offering services permitted under the program.” After the completion of 2,000 hours, the trainee “shall be allowed to take the examination for a license to practice the appropriate practice of the barbering and cosmetology arts and sciences.”
HF 711 also contains language from SF 511 that is further detailed below.
The Senate State Government Committee reported a bill – introduced as SF 316 but renumbered to SF 511 – that would allow school instructors to perform services for compensation at a school while not instructing students. It would also allow students to take a combined esthetics and nail technology course of study; prohibit the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology Arts and Sciences from approving a program of study that includes a course of study with substantially lower requirements than the requirements imposed by law or the board for a similar license, and; prohibits the Board from approving “a program of study that is substantially duplicative of an approved program currently operating in this state.”
The measure is eligible for consideration on the Senate floor.
Kentucky SB 22 was transmitted to Governor Andy Beshear (D) on Friday after the House voted 85 to 2 to pass a Committee Substitute. The Senate then unanimously concurred in the House amendments. The bill would allow a cosmetologist, nail technician, limited stylist, esthetician, or instructor applicant to “retake any examination an unlimited number of times until the applicant passes that examination;” remove the requirement that a licensed cosmetologist serve as the executive director of the Board of Cosmetology; permit mobile barber shops, and; add language stating that it is “an immediate and present danger to the health and safety of the public if it is documented and verified that a licensee knowingly employs or utilizes the services of an unlicensed individual.”
Maryland The Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to pass SB 617. The bill would create a 100-hour limited license to provide eyelash extension services. The bill has been transmitted to the House and referred to the chamber’s Economic Matters Committee.
The House of Delegates companion – HB 1223 – was passed by a vote of 133 to 6 last Friday and is awaiting transmittal to the Senate.
Massachusetts The following bills were recently introduced and referred to the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure.
S200/H323 – The bill would require cosmetology schools to provide students with at least one hour of Board-approved domestic violence and sexual assault awareness training.
H346 – The bill would require the Board of Registration of Cosmetology and Barbering to provide a standardized warning sign about human trafficking to all cosmetology and hairdressing businesses and schools.
H368 – The measure would modify the composition and appointment process for the Board of Registration of Cosmetology and Barbering.
H404 – The bill would require Board of Registration of Cosmetology and Barbering licensure exams to be offered in the following five languages: English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Haitian Creole.
Michigan A bipartisan Senate bill – SB 131 – was recently filed to allow licensed schools to operate an offsite “secondary school facility” to teach cosmetology in a classroom setting if specified requirements are met. Similar House and Senate bills died last year after partisan and interchamber squabbles limited productivity during Michigan’s lame-duck session. A tie bared bill – SB 130 – would modify licensure fees. Both SB 130 and SB 131 have been referred to the Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee.
Minnesota A textured hair training bill was recently introduced and referred to Senate State and Local Committee, which has scheduled a March 18, 2025, hearing on the measure. SF2428 states that cosmetology and hair technician courses “must include textured hair training that consists of theoretical and clinical instruction on working with hair with various: (1) curl, coil, and wave patterns; (2) hair strand thicknesses; and (3) volumes.”
Montana The state’s Cosmetology Licensure Compact bill – SB 515 – was tabled early this month by the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs and subsequently failed to meet a general bill crossover deadline.
The state’s Interstate Massage Compact bill – SB 233 – is scheduled for a House Business and Labor Committee hearing on March 18, 2025.
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen (R) signed LB 160 into law last week after the state’s unicameral voted unanimously to pass the bill. Under current law, if an applicant fails the barber examination twice, they must complete a 500-hour course in a barbering school. LB 160 – effective in mid-June – would allow applicants to take the examination up to three times “without being required to take any further course of study.”
An applicant that has failed the exam three times would need to complete 500 hours of additional study. However, he or she could “test out of the course of study after completion of two hundred fifty hours with the approval of the board.”
New Mexico The House of Representatives voted 61 to 1 earlier this month to pass an eyebrow threading and hair braiding deregulation bill. The measure – HB 281 – opposed by the Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists was subsequently reported from the Senate Tax, Business, and Transportation Committee and is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
New York A3084 was amended last Friday and recommitted to the Assembly Economic Development Committee. As currently drafted, the bill would allow licensed estheticians and cosmetologists to practice microneedling upon completion of a forty-hour course, which is an increase of 35-hours from when the bill was introduced in January.
A natural hair braiding licensure bill was also recently introduced and referred to the Assembly Economic Development . A6592 would require applicants to receive not more than 40 hours of instruction primarily focused on health and safety protocols.
Tennessee The Senate Government Operations Committee favorably reported the “Less is More Act of 2025” to the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee with an amendment. SB 1316 contains language that would remove annual inspection requirements for barber shops, barber schools, or colleges under the Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners and, instead, require the Board to establish rules regarding the frequency of inspections.
The identical House companion was favorably reported, if similarly amended, by the House State & Local Government Committee. HB 1330 is currently in the House Government Operations Committee.
SB 939, which would require a state study on the economic impact of cosmetology and barbering, “including revenue generated through the services provided and the number of jobs generated by the professions,” will be passed on a Senate consent calendar this week after the chamber’s Commerce & Labor Committee unanimously reported the bill. The House passed an identical companion bill – HB 862 – earlier this month.
Texas Representative John Bryant (D) introduced a bill that would establish barbering and cosmetology instructor’s licenses “consisting of 500 hours of instruction in barber or cosmetology courses and methods of teaching in a barber or cosmetology school or commission-approved training program.” HB 4680 has not yet been assigned to a standing committee.
A Senate Cosmetology Licensure Compact bill – SB 1905 – was also filed earlier this month.
Utah A bill rewriting the state’s cosmetology and barbering Act received final passage last week. Key provisions of SB 330 include: reducing the course of instruction for cosmetology from 1,600 to 1,250 hours; reducing the course of instruction for hair design from 1,200 to 1,000 hours; increasing the course of instruction for eyelash technology from 100 to 270 hours, and; establishing the following permits – basic esthetics (200 hours), non-chemical barbering (130 hours), chemical hair services (260 hours), haircutting (150 hours), and facial hair removal (50 hours) – which are most likely non-transferable to another state.
The measure also revises instructor licensure requirements. Under current law, a cosmetologist/barber instructor applicant is required to complete a 240-hour instructor training program; have 240 hours of supervised on-the-job training under a licensed instructor, and; have a minimum of 1,600 hours of experience as a cosmetologist/barber. Once SB 330 becomes effective, instructors would be required complete an instructor training program “for the discipline for which the applicant is licensed” that is at least “35% of the minimum hours for the license or permit the applicant intends to instruct;” or on-the-job instructor training that is at least 35 percent of the minimum hours for the discipline for which the applicant intends to instruct.
Additionally, the measure stipulates that apprentices would be required to complete the same number of hours as the course of instruction as a school for each respective license or permit. Current law requires additional hours – beyond the course of instruction at a school – for apprentice applicants.
SB 330 was transmitted to Governor Spencer Cox (R) on Monday.
Vermont This recently introduced multi-occupation professional regulation bill, sponsored by House Government Operation and Military Affairs Committee, contains language requiring barbering and cosmetology schools to provide textured hair training. H.474 has been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Washington The House of Representative voted 97 to 0 last week to pass a Cosmetology Licensure Compact bill. HB 1023 has been transmitted to the Senate and referred to the Labor and Commerce Committee. | 
