CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 51(L&C) "An Act relating to barbers, hairdressers, manicurists, and cosmetologists; providing that the only qualification necessary for licensure as a manicurist, other than payment of fees, is completion of a class that is 12 hours in duration, addresses relevant health, safety, and hygiene concerns, and is offered through a school approved by the Board of Barbers and Hairdressers; and providing for an effective date." DOUG SALICK, committee aide for the Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee and staff to Senator Tim Kelly, testified to the bill. The bill would change the word "cosmetology" to "esthetics" to comply with other states and apply to a broader range of services. Additionally, it would create a new license for manicurists and dictate the training they must undergo. It also created a new instructor's license that would cover practitioners as well as instructors, thus allowing an instructor to practice as well as teach simultaneously. It set new guidelines for those who practice in other states and wished to practice temporarily in Alaska. Finally, it also removed the shaving requirement from the statutes since it was no longer taught. He noted that a Board of Cosmetology member was planning to testify via teleconference from Anchorage, but was not yet at the LIO. Senator Randy Phillips asked about the Department of Environmental Conservation fiscal note for $3800 to cover publications and wanted to know if the funds would come from the licensees or from the general fund. CATHERINE REARDON, Director, Division of Occupational Licensing, Department of Commerce and Economic Development, came to the table to address the fiscal note question. She believed that the fiscal note would not be covered by license fees and would need to be covered with general funds. Department of Environmental Conservation currently had responsibility to do health inspections for other licensed professions and was not covered by license fees. Co-Chair John Torgerson asked if it was normal practice in regulations for the costs to be passed on to the licensees. Katherine Reardon replied that by statute, all the costs of the regulation of the profession must be covered by license fees. However, those costs were generally thought to be those incurred by the Department of Commerce and Economic Development to run the licensing program. She suggested that the funds could be RSA'ed to the Department of Environmental Conservation to cover inspection costs. Currently, funds were RSA'ed to the Department of Labor for enforcement of contractor's licenses. Co-Chair John Torgerson clarified that to do so, the committee would increase the Department of Commerce and Economic Development fiscal note from 16.4 to include the 3.8. Catherine Reardon answered that was correct and continued that an indication would be made on the fiscal note stating the intention that the funds be RSA'ed to the Department of Environmental Conservation. Senator Randy Phillips commented that he wished a representative of the Department of Environmental Conservation were present to answer questions. Senator Randy Phillips moved to amend the fiscal notes to incorporate the $3800 amount from the Department of Environmental Conservation into the Department of Commerce and Economic Development fiscal note as interagency receipts with the possibility to RSA the funds to the Department of Environmental Conservation. Co-Chair John Torgerson clarified that there would still be a need for a 3.8 Department of Environmental Conservation fiscal note. It would just be shown as interagency receipts. Senator Lyda Green referred to the fiscal note comments on the number of manicurists and wondered about the "thousands of businesses." Catherine Reardon doubted there would be thousands. Senator Lyda Green felt that number was high and should be adjusted downward. Co-Chair John Torgerson named the fiscal note motion Amendment #1 and it was adopted without objection. Senator Loren Leman had a question on inspections. He referred to testimony from Catherine Reardon in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee that the bill would require the Department of Environmental Conservation to inspect the business when it first opened, but upon transfer, no inspection was required. He wanted to know if that was what actually was taking place. Catherine Reardon answered that it was and that current statute dictated the amount of times the Department of Environmental Conservation was to perform inspections. She added that in situations where the Department of Environmental Conservation had limited resources they were to reduce the number of inspections and only respond if they received a complaint. Senator Loren Leman pointed out that the title of the bill used the term "esthetics" but the first line of the bill used "cosmetologist". If it was the intent to change the term, he felt it needed to be consistent throughout the bill. Co-Chair John Torgerson said he would check with the drafters and that the desire for consistency seemed reasonable. There was discussion about the testifier who was not present. Doug Salick told the committee she wished to speak about the length of training required for manicurists, and that she felt it should be more than 12 hours. Co-Chair John Torgerson ordered bill moved to bottom of calendar to wait for the testifier to get to the Anchorage LIO. SB 51-LICENSING OF COSMETOLOGISTS Co-Chair John Torgerson brought this bill back to the table. It was noted that the Anchorage participant had not yet arrived at the LIO. Co-Chair John Torgerson asked for comment on the argument that 12 hours of training for manicurist certification would not be adequate. Catherine Reardon began by informing the committee that she performed two roles, one was with the Board of Cosmetology and the other was as a staff member of the Department of Commerce and Economic Development. She said that the board would meet next week, discuss the matter and possibly decide that more training was appropriate. Speaking from the department, she felt the number of hours was arbitrary. She had worked with the sponsor to reach the 12-hour requirement. She had concerns about people needing to close their business to fly to area were training was available and advised that this could be cost prohibitive to some businesses. She did research and found a school that offered a training course at a cost of $3000 and took three months to complete. She felt that someone in Ketchikan would be unable to afford to do that. Senator Al Adams asked for comparison of training requirements in other states. Catherine Reardon referred to a handout. Co-Chair John Torgerson clarified that the Board of Cosmetology would meet the following Monday. He ordered the bill held in committee to allow the board to put their comments on record. Co-Chair John Torgerson said the bill would probably be brought back up next Thursday.