Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 290                          PRINTER'S NO.    2082
                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
                          HOUSE BILL
                          No. 327
                                               Session of
                                                 2023
     INTRODUCED BY MAKO, M. MACKENZIE, JAMES, BURGOS, ZIMMERMAN,
        ROWE, GUZMAN AND D. WILLIAMS, MARCH 13, 2023
     AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE, HOUSE OF
        REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, OCTOBER 3, 2023
                                    AN ACT
 Amending the act of June 19, 1931 (P.L.589, No.202), entitled
    "An act to promote the public health and safety, by providing
    for the examination and licensure of those who desire to
    engage in the profession of barbering; regulating barber
    shops and barber schools, and students therein; regulating
    compensation for service rendered; conferring certain powers
    and duties on the Department of State; and providing
    penalties," further providing for licensure of manager-
    barbers and barber-teachers.
    The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 hereby enacts as follows:
    Section 1.    Sections 3(d), 3.2, 4(a) and (b), 13(a), 13.1 and
 15-A.3(b) of the act of June 19, 1931 (P.L.589, No.202),
 referred to as the Barbers' License Law, are amended to read:
    Section 3.    * * *
    (d)   [The] (1)   Except as provided in paragraph (2), an AN      <--
 applicant for a barber-teacher's license shall, as a condition
 precedent to obtaining a license, take the barber-teacher's
 license examination and score a passing grade. Prior to taking
 the examination, the applicant shall be at least [twenty-three]
 eighteen years of age, be a high school graduate or its
 equivalent, and either have had five years' experience as a
 licensed barber in a licensed barber shop or shared shop as set
 forth in section 15-A.3 in Pennsylvania, or [be a LICENSED         <--
 BARBER OR manager-barber] who has trained for [one thousand two    <--
 hundred fifty (1250)] five hundred (500) hours under a licensed
 teacher in a licensed barber or cosmetology school as a teacher- <--
 trainee[.], which hours shall be in addition to the hours
 necessary to qualify for a license to practice barbering. The
 training shall be limited to teaching methods and need not be
 specifically related to barbering. A notarized application for a
 license as a barber-teacher shall be made in such form as the
 board shall prescribe. The application shall be accompanied by a
 notarized statement, by either the owner or manager of the shop
 in which the applicant has been employed that the applicant has
 had five years experience as a licensed barber in a licensed
 barber shop or shared shop as set forth in section 15-A.3 in
 this Commonwealth or by the licensed barber school the teacher-
 trainee attended, that the applicant has [been licensed as a
 manager-barber and] trained for [one thousand two hundred fifty
 (1250)] five hundred (500) hours under a licensed teacher in a
 licensed barber or cosmetology school as a teacher-trainee. The    <--
 board shall not have the power to require a photograph as part
 of an application for a barber-teacher's license. At the time of
 filing the application and accompanying notarized statements,
 the applicant shall pay to the department an examination fee to
 be determined by regulation and shall present himself or herself
 at the next examination of applicants as provided in section 6.
    (2)   At the expiration of the biennial renewal period next     <--
 following the effective date of this paragraph, a manager-barber
 licensee who possesses a minimum of three years' experience as a
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 manager-barber as of January 1, 2022, and has no record of
 disciplinary action may opt to become licensed as a barber-
 teacher without meeting the training and examination
 requirements in paragraph (1), upon application and payment of
 the required fee.
    Section 3.2.     (a)   If a licensed cosmetologist wishes to
 become a licensed barber, he or she shall have successfully
 completed the one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250)-hour
 cosmetology training course or shall possess a current license
 as a cosmetologist. Upon application to the board he or she
 shall be given five hundred fifty-five (555) hours of credit for
 subjects previously covered in the cosmetology training course,
 which subjects shall be enumerated by joint regulation of the
 State Board of Cosmetology and the board. Before such person is
 permitted to take the barber practical and theory State Board
 examination, he or she shall have successfully passed both the
 theory and practical portions of the State Board of Cosmetology
 examination.
    (b)   An individual currently holding both a cosmetology
 license and a barber's license may obtain a barber-teacher
 license if the individual completes the training and examination
 required for licensure as either a barber-teacher or a
 cosmetology teacher.
    Section 4.   (a)    A barber or a barber-teacher currently
 licensed in another state with substantially the same licensure
 requirements as Pennsylvania shall be granted a Pennsylvania
 barber or barber-teacher license without an examination upon
 payment of the fee. The aforesaid provision shall only be
 effective when a mutual reciprocal agreement has been executed
 between the respective state licensing boards.
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    (b)   A barber or barber-teacher applicant currently licensed
 in another state not recognized by a reciprocal agreement shall
 be eligible for the barber or barber-teacher examination upon
 approval of the board which approval shall not be arbitrarily
 withheld. The examination shall consist of barber law, rules and
 regulations. Should the examinee fail to pass the examination,
 upon payment of the required fee, the examinee may take another
 examination if the examinee so desires. In no event shall the
 examinee be permitted to practice barbering until the examinee
 has received a barber's license.
    * * *
    Section 13.   (a)   No person shall practice barbering who is
 not a licensed barber, with the exception that nonlicensed
 persons may shampoo hair under the supervision of a barber-
 manager [or], barber-owner or barber-teacher. No licensed barber
 shall practice, or attempt to practice, barbering in any place
 other than a licensed barber shop or licensed cosmetology shop,
 except that any licensed barber in a licensed barber shop or
 licensed cosmetology shop may furnish barber services to persons
 at their place of residence or in institutions in cases of
 sickness, incapacitation, confinement, and other emergencies:
 Provided, however, That nothing contained in this section shall
 be construed to include family members of the same household,
 hospitals or colleges, and private schools for children,
 cosmetology shops or schools of cosmetology, except that it
 shall be unlawful and a violation of this act for any person to
 employ or to accept employment, in any such shops, parlors or
 schools, who has been refused a license by the board.
    * * *
    Section 13.1.   Upon payment of a required fee, a temporary
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 license may be issued to any applicant who is eligible for
 admission to the barber's examination. An applicant who is thus
 licensed shall practice only under the supervision of a licensed
 manager-barber or barber-teacher until results are available
 from the next scheduled examination. Temporary licenses are
 granted for a nine-month period.
    Section 15-A.3.    * * *
    [(b)    A barber shop licensee who shall employ a licensed
 cosmetologist shall also be a licensed barber-manager or employ
 a barber-manager.]
    * * *
    Section 2.    This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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