We’re off to a great start!

Close to 300 letters have been sent to lawmakers so far in the #IncludeBeauty campaign. Join the fight to protect our schools, students and employees from the College Affordability Act, a House bill recently approved in Committee on October 31 by the Democrat leadership of the House Education and Labor Committee. The bill is the most comprehensive legislative attack we have seen on the cosmetology sector due to multiple damaging provisions directed at for-profit colleges.

You can help by communicating directly with Members of Congress to oppose the House College Affordability Act, and ask your employees and students to do so too. Letter templates and instructions are available here.

New 2020 NACCAS requirements

NACCAS requirements are changing in the new year. Make sure you are updated and in compliance by January 1, 2020. Visit the NACCAS website for more information.


DATE CHANGE for the 2020 SCHOOL LEADER SUMMIT & HILL DAY 

To accommodate the updates to House calendar, we are changing the dates to ensure legislators will be in session during our time in Washington, D.C, 

2020 School Leader Summit & Hill Day
March 24-26, 2020 (new!)
Washington Hilton

School Members 

As an appreciation of your early renewal, all renewals received prior to December 31, 2019 will receive 50% off of your first registration to AACS’ 2020 Annual Convention & Expo on October 23-26th at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Houston, Texas.

Partner Members 

As AACS restructures our association to prepare for the future, we are also adjusting our membership rates to reflect the cost of economic inflation to operate in this new landscape. We are offering a special one-time offer to all of our current AACS partners. If you renew and pay your 2020 membership of $900 by December 31, 2019. This represents a $300 savings in 2020. 

This special one-time membership renewal offer is also good news if you also have a sponsorship agreement. If you renew your $900 partner membership rate prior to December 31, 2019, this rate will be credited back in your overall  final sponsorship agreement.  

Note for both memberships
Rates for both memberships increase after December 31, 2019. Support the beauty industry and the work AACS does every day to advocate for our students, educators and professionals. For more information, email Cristina@beautyschools.org.

OfficeMax member benefit

We have partnered with OfficeMax to provide AACS members a special benefit. Businesses using the Office Depot discount program see significant savings. Take advantage of the program today and you could save thousands of dollars per year! Learn more at bit.ly/AACSportal.

Get one for you and your fashionable friends – these clever tshirts support the AACS Government Relations Committee. Contact AACS at info@beautyschools.org to request an order form. 

Beauty Changes Lives and professional beauty’s leading brands invite AACS schools to Make Your Mark! Be part of a high-energy campaign introducing Gen Z to the pathways, possibilities and potential available only to licensed beauty professionals. Sign up by December 31, 2019, for a free Basic Make Your Mark school partner listing for 12 months and we’ll waive the $500 partner fee. Click here and Make Your Mark on the future of our industry!

Federal Updates

U.S. Department of Education

November, 26, 2019 – In a notice published in the Federal Register, the Department issues interim final regulations to amend and update the regulations for total and permanent disability student loan discharge for veterans by removing administrative burdens that may have prevented at least 20,000 totally and permanently disabled veterans from obtaining discharges of their student loans, as the law provides. 

November, 27, 2019 – The Department published a notice in the Federal Register, proposing a revision of the information collection system, the Accrediting Agencies Reporting Activities for Institutions and Programs—Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institution and Programs (DAPIP). The proposed information collection outlines categories of terminology used by accrediting agencies to describe actions and statuses, and provides guidance to federally recognized accrediting agencies on the information to be reported to the Department under 34 CFR 602.26 and 602.27(a)(6) and (a)(7).

The Department published a notice in the Federal Register, seeking a revision of the information collection supporting the policies and reporting requirements contained in Subpart E of Part 668—Verification and Updating of Student Aid Application Information. This subpart governs the verification and updating of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid used to calculate an applicant's Expected Family Contribution for purposes of determining an applicant's need for student financial assistance under Title IV of Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. The collection of this documentation helps ensure that students (and parents in the case of PLUS loans) receive the correct amount of Title IV program assistance by providing accurate information to calculate an applicant's expected family contribution.

November, 29. 2019 – In a notice published in the Federal Register, the Secretary of Education proposed to establish six priorities for discretionary grant programs that would expand the Department of Education's (the Department's) flexibility to give priority to a broader range of applicants with varying experience in administering Federal education funds (Proposed Priorities 1 and 2), applicants proposing to serve rural communities (Proposed Priorities 3 and 4), applicants that demonstrate a rationale for their proposed projects (Proposed Priority 5), or applicants proposing to collect data after the grant's original project period (Proposed Priority 6).

December 2, 2019 –  The Department published a notice in the Federal Register requesting a revision of the current information collection associated with the Borrower Defenses Regulations, OMB Control Number 1845-0142, due to an increase in the number of borrowers asserting a borrower defense to repayment claim. The only change to the collection is an update to increase the number of respondents, responses and burden hours.

The Department published a notice in the Federal Register proposing to renew OMB control number 1845-0147 for the collection of URLs hosting institutional contracts and contract data relating to campus banking agreements. The Department has also created a central repository for the information provided by the institution that includes the contract data and the web addresses that is publicly available for research and comparison purposes. Both of these are located on studentaid.gov. The database allows interested parties, such as students, families, press, institutions, and researchers to easily access and compare banking agreements available at different institutions.

December 3, 2019 – The Department recently published a notice in the Federal Register proposing an extension of the approval for the reporting and recordkeeping requirements that are contained in the information collection 1845-0049 for Student Assistance General Provision in the regulations in Subpart J-Approval of Independently Administered Tests; Specification of Passing Score; Approval of State Process. The administration of approved ability to benefit (ATB) tests may be used to determine a student's eligibility for assistance for the Title IV student financial assistance programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) when, among other conditions, the student does not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent.

December 13, 2019 – Deadline for every organization enrolled for a Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) account to review and validate its assigned TG numbers and Electronic Services user accounts.

Looking Ahead – 2019 FSA Training Conference. The Federal Student Aid Office has opened registration for the 2019 FSA Training Conference scheduled for December 3 to 6 in Reno, Nevada. The FSA Training Conference is training provided for financial aid professionals by the government for those institutions receiving Title IV funds and is the largest training program in the United States serving the financial aid community. In 2018 more than 2,000 unique schools registered for the conference. Registration is free.

U.S. Congress – Newly Introduced Legislation of Note

No Recently Introduced Legislation Since Last Week’s Wink
 

State Updates

New Jersey Assembly Passes Bill Revising Student Clinic Fees

The week after Thanksgiving finds only five state legislatures – Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and Wisconsin – actively meeting.  However, over 25 states are currently allowing the prefiling of 2020 bills.

According to FiscalNote, several states have procedural mechanisms in place to encourage lawmakers to pre-file bills. “In Florida, for instance, House members are limited to filing six bills during a regular session, with at least two required to be pre-filed no later than the “sixth Tuesday prior to the first day of the regular session.’ This year, that would be Dec. 3.” 

Similarly, Louisiana and Virginia’s House of Delegates limits legislators to five non-prefiled bills.  Virginia Senators can however introduce up to eight non-prefiled bills during their 60-day 2020 legislative session. 

Prior to Thanksgiving, New Jersey’s Assembly unanimously passed a bill permitting cosmetology and hairstyling school clinics to charge the public fees for services that are greater than the cost of materials.  According to the official statement, A3160 “also provides that fees charged by licensed school clinics must be clearly posted and that consumers must be notified that the cosmetology and hairstyling services provided in the clinic are performed by registered senior students under the supervision of licensed instructors.”  An identical Senate companion bill – S1751 – is currently pending in the Senate Commerce Committee.   

South Carolina Representative Bill Herbkersman (R) pre-filed a bill last month to reduce continuing education requirements for Palmetto State licensees.  Under current regulations, all cosmetologists, estheticians, and nail technicians are required to complete a total of 12 continuing education hours of training per licensure year – including three hours in sanitation or client health and safety.  Similarly, licensed instructors must complete 12 hours of instruction “geared toward teaching” during the preceding licensing year.  H4666 would require non-instructor licensees to complete three hours of continuing education in “regulations, health, safety, and sanitation” per licensure year.  Instructors would be required to complete six hours of instruction during the preceding licensing year, including three hours in regulations, health, safety and sanitation, and three hours in teaching methodology. 

The text of the bills listed in this report can be found in AACS’ Bill Tracking Portal.  

Please do not hesitate to contact Brian Newman at bnewman@abingdonstrategies.com or by phone at 202-491-5254 with comments or questions.

AACS is working to better position AACS members to achieve our legislative and regulatory objectives at the federal level, ensuring lawmakers don’t pass misguided legislation that could severely harm our industry.

We need your help to tell the industry’s compelling story and save our industry from the negative consequences of harmful legislation. You can help by donating to help us fund this important public relations campaign, and by sharing stories and testimonials.

To submit a donation, please click here.

To submit a story, please click here.