2017 -- S 0020

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LC000370

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- BARBERS, HAIRDRESSERS,

COSMETICIANS, MANICURISTS AND ESTHETICIANS

     Introduced By: Senator Marc A. Cote

     Date Introduced: January 18, 2017

     Referred To: Senate Commerce

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 5-10-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-10 entitled "Barbers,

Hairdressers, Cosmeticians, Manicurists and Estheticians" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     5-10-8. Issuance of licenses -- Qualifications of applicants.

     (a) The division shall issue licenses to persons engaged in, or desiring to engage in, the

practice of barbering, hairdressing and cosmetic therapy and/or manicuring or esthetics and for

instructing in any approved school of barbering or hairdressing and cosmetic therapy and

manicuring or esthetics; provided, that no license shall be issued to any person under this chapter

unless the applicant for the license:

     (1) Is at least eighteen (18) years of age;

     (2) Is a citizen of the United States of America or has legal entry into the country;

     (3) Is of good moral character;

     (4) Is a high school graduate or holds the equivalent or has twenty-five (25) or more years

of prior experience in the practice for which the license is sought;

     (5) Has satisfactorily completed the course of instruction in an approved school of

barbering, hairdressing and cosmetic therapy and/or manicuring or esthetics;

     (6) Has satisfactorily passed a written and a practical examination approved by the

division to determine the fitness of the applicant to receive a license; and

     (7) Has complied with § 5-10-10 and any other qualifications that the division prescribes

by regulation.

     (b) Notwithstanding the provision of subdivision (a)(4), on and after July 1, 1997, an

applicant seeking licensure as a barber must be a high school graduate or hold the equivalent

combination of education and experience.

     (c) The division may license, on a case-by-case basis, with or without examination, any

individual who has been licensed as an esthetician, barber, cosmetologist, electrologist or

manicurist under the laws of another state, which, in the opinion of the division, maintains a

standard substantially equivalent to that of the state of Rhode Island.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- BARBERS, HAIRDRESSERS,

COSMETICIANS, MANICURISTS AND ESTHETICIANS

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     This act would permit grandfathering the licensing of barbers, hairdressers, cosmeticians,

manicurists and estheticians on the basis of work experience or work in another state.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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