House Bill 189 (HB-189) and Senate Bill 129 (SB-129) seek to significantly reduce the number of clock hours required for licensure as a cosmetologist from 1500 hours to 1000 hours. Currently a newly licensed cosmetologist in the State of Ohio can seek licensure in 30 states without the need of investing in any additional education. If HB-189/SB-129 becomes law, that same newly licensed cosmetologist would be left with only two states (New York and Massachusetts) to transfer to without further investment in education.
The proponents of this bill claim that the current licensure requirements are overburdensome and that lowering hour requirements will lead to less debt. No one will argue that less debt is a bad thing, however HB-189/SB-129 doesn’t make cosmetology education any cheaper, it simply removes a third of the education. Buying a car for 33% off seems like a great deal until you realize that the car you bought is missing a third of its parts.
Support the beauty industry and beauty professionals by making sure that education and licensure standards are not lowered in order for a few large companies to make a few more bucks. Protect my profession.