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State Relations Update
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California For-Profit School Bills Continue to Advance
State legislative activity remains slow during the dog days of summer. This week finds only four state legislatures – Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina – actively meeting. AACS will however continue to keep you apprised of the latest state developments of interest to member schools.
In California, the Senate Education committee voted 7 to 0 last week to report AB 1340 and 5 to 0 to report AB 1345 to the Senate Appropriations Committee. As previously reported, AB 1340 was amended last month from a state gainful employment bill to a data collection and reporting bill. Accordingly, it would require institutions regulated by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) to report “individual identifying information, the program the graduate was enrolled in, and specified student loan debt information. The bill would require the bureau to match the data reported by institutions pursuant to this provision with wage data from the Employment Development Department, as specified. The bill would also require the bureau to make available certain program-level and institution-level statistics regarding the earnings levels of students and student debt burdens.”
AB 1345 is an incentive compensation bill. According to media reports, Assemblyman McCarty is negotiating the bill’s final language with for-profit schools to address concerns the current language would make it impossible to fire anyone who works on student admissions and enrollment.
California AB 5 was modified last week and referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The underlying bill establishes criteria to determine when an individual is an independent contractor versus an employee. The revised language allows specified beauty industry professionals – cosmetologists, barbers, electrologists, estheticians and natural hair braiders – to be an independent contractor if the following criteria are met:
“(A) Sets their own rates for services performed, provided the rate is equal to or greater than two times the minimum wages for hours worked and is paid directly by their clients.
(B) Sets their own hours of work and has sole discretion to decide which clients from who they will provide services.
(C) Has their own book of business and schedules their own appointments.
(D) Uses their own funds to purchase requisite supplies used in connection with providing services.
(E) Maintains their own business license in connection with the services offered to clients.”
Finally, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo (D) signed hair braiding deregulation bills – H 5677/S 260 – into law last week. In addition to hand “twisting, wrapping, weaving, extending, locking, or braiding hair,” the Act allows unlicensed hair braiders to use mechanical devices including curling irons and scissors to perform “minor trimming of natural hair or hair extensions incidental to twisting, wrapping, weaving, extending, locking, or braiding hair.”
The text and current status of bills mentioned in this update can be found in AACS’ Bill Tracking Portal at:
https://www.billtrack50.com/Public/Stakeholder/Jt1rI23hjU2jC1MOSr6KVA/Embedded.
Please do not hesitate to contact me at bnewman@abingdonstrategies.com or by phone at 202-491-5254 with comments or questions.
