Ready to reopen?

Ready for when your state approves, AACS has created a Reopening Guide to help your schools and organization proceed with protocols to ensure the safety and health of your staff, instructors, students, and community. In addition to resources, it also includes a state-by-state list of reopening policies. Please click on this link to find out more.

The CDC has also released new guidelines to reopening public spaces, including schools. Check out this link for more information.

 

Make sure to check in on each other, and make sure we give ourselves the chance to reflect on our mental health. The Centers for Disease Control has joined the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention for the launch of the Mental Health & Suicide Prevention National Response to COVID-19. We are stronger together.

AACS is here for you with a comprehensive coronavirus resource page that will be updated as new information comes in. Click here for updates from the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Education, accreditors, distance learning educators and more.

Preparing to reopen your school? Office Depot – OfficeMax member can help

In addition to safety and health protocols, additional supplies will likely be needed to protect your instructors, staff and students as the learning continues.

For a limited time, for AACS members only, cloth masks and face shields are available (supplies are limited).

                  

 

Show your educators how much they mean to you and your students by ordering gift baskets during Teacher Appreciation Week. They’re pre-packaged and ready to send.



       

 

Baskets are available to order through the AACS Office Depot/Office Max portal. Both baskets and masks are available by calling Nicole Gutierrez at: (855) 337-6811 ext. 12673 or Sara Haltom at (855) 337-6811 ext. 12872.  

Whether working from home or back in your offices, OfficeMax is here to provide AACS members special benefits. 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! To learn more, click here

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Especially during this time of the coronavirus pandemic, we have been hosting webinars for members to provide the latest information to help you continue to serve your students and manage your business.

If you missed a webinar, recordings are available to members only. Webinars to date are:

Navigating Distance Education
Understanding the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Grant
CARES Act Relief for Schools
Best Practices for Re-Opening Your School
Higher Education Relief Fund: Updates and Use of School Funding

If you would like the recording, email info@beautyschools.org. More will be available soon. Monitor your inbox for the latest information.

Additional FAQs are available regarding:

Navigating Distance Education

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Prescription RX card benefit 

With heightened concerns about our health, you and your staff, faculty and students
may need some additional assistance with your prescriptions. Ask the AACS national
office how you can download your prescription card, and potentially save up to 80% on
your medications. There are no health restrictions, and may be used on drugs not
covered in health plans. It may even be used on many pet prescriptions. The card is
pre-activated and ready for use! For your copy, contact Cristina@beautyschools.org.
This benefit is for members only, and is accepted at more than 68,000 pharmacies nationwide.
 

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Federal Legislative Weekly Update

 

Congress 

May 4, 2020 – The Senate returned to Washington on Monday with a long to-do list as the coronavirus continues to impact the economy — but most of the action this week will not directly address the pandemic. “The Senate is back in session because we have important work to do for the nation,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday as the chamber gaveled in for the first time in five weeks. Republican-led committees are scheduled to hold hearings for high-level presidential nominees including for the nation’s top intelligence post, while GOP leaders aim for votes later this month on key national security tools that remain dormant. The House is not planning to come back until next week, but an Appropriations subcommittee will still hold an in-person hearing Wednesday on coronavirus response. 

Top House Republicans want the Education Department to turn over records of its investigations into U.S. colleges and universities, as part of a joint inquiry into the Chinese government’s involvement in the American higher education system. Monday’s public rebuke from seven ranking House committee members is the latest in a string of controversies that’s entangled the country’s most prominent universities and dovetailed with hawkish White House foreign policy toward China. The Education Department subpoenaed the University of Texas in late April for records on the school’s links with Chinese entities such as the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Huawei Technologies. "China has strategically invested in U.S. academia to attempt to steal confidential information and technology from U.S. companies, and even the U.S. government,” Republicans said Monday in a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. 

House Education and Labor Democrats said Monday that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ changes to the borrower defense program application are unnecessary and may deter applicants. The lawmakers sent a comment letter to the Education Department on Monday, the last day of the comment period on the “Borrower Defense to Loan Repayment Universal Form,” according to the Federal Register. Changes the Education Department introduced could be used to replace the borrower defense form that expired on Dec. 31, 2019. The borrower defense program allows a pathway for defrauded student loan borrowers to have their debts forgiven. “Some of the proposed elements could be helpful to borrowers, such as providing examples of institutional misconduct that could lead to discharge, and including additional types of claims that the Department may consider, such as instances where the college misrepresented itself to third parties including states, accreditors, or the Department,” lawmakers wrote. 

April 29, 2020 – Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday appointed seven Democratic members to a newly created House panel meant to police the Trump administration’s coronavirus response efforts. The appointments are expected to ignite a wave of congressional action to spotlight President Donald Trump’s handling of the multitrillion-dollar pandemic relief packages meant to confront the illness’ devastating toll on American life. "We must make sure that the historic investment of taxpayer dollars made in the CARES Act is being used wisely and efficiently to help those in need, not be exploited by profiteers and price-gougers," Pelosi said in a "dear colleague" letter.

 

U.S. Department of Education 

May 1, 2020 – Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is continuing to garnish the wages of federal student loan borrowers who fall behind on payments even though Congress suspended the practice in the economic rescue package, according to a new proposed class action lawsuit. An upstate New York woman who works as a home health aide for less than $13 an hour claimed in the lawsuit, filed late Thursday, that the federal government seized more than $70 from her paycheck as recently as last week — nearly a full month after President Donald Trump signed the CARES Act, H.R. 748 (116), into law. She is suing on behalf of about 285,000 borrowers whose wages are being garnished, according to the lawsuit. 

April 30, 2020 – U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced that nearly $1.4 billion in additional funding will be directed to Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), as well as institutions serving low-income students to help ensure learning continues during the coronavirus national emergency. This funding is part of the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. 

Recently Introduced Federal Legislation 

H.R.6657 – To rescind certain appropriations made in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, and for other purposes.
a.                  Status: Referred to House Committee on Appropriations
b.                  Sponsor: Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) 10 Cosponsors

H.R.6651 – To amend the higher education emergency relief fund under the CARES Act to restrict eligibility to institutions of higher education that owned endowment assets whose average monthly value was equal to or less than $10,000,000,000 in 2019, unless the institution expends additional institutional funds on higher education emergency relief, and for other purposes.
a.                  Status: Referred to House Committee on Education, 5/1/20
b.                  Sponsor: Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) 2 Cosponsors

H.R.6646 – To provide State and local workforce and career and technical education systems with support to respond to the COVID-19 national emergency.
a.                  Status: Referred to House Committee on Education and Labor, 5/1/20
b.                  Sponsor: Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) 10 Cosponsors 

S.3589 – A bill to amend the higher education emergency relief fund under the CARES Act to restrict eligibility to institutions of higher education that owned endowment assets whose average monthly value was equal to or less than $10,000,000,000 in 2019, unless the institution expends additional institutional funds on higher education emergency relief.
a.                  Status: Referred to Senate HELP Committee, 5/4/20
b.                  Sponsor: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) 4 Cosponsors

 

State Update
The first full week of May finds 13 state legislatures actively meeting.  This is the largest number of state legislatures in session in over a month.  As legislative activity rebounds from COVID-19 disruptions, AACS will continue to keep you apprised of the latest developments of interest to member schools. 

This week’s report will review the unfinished 2020 state bills that may be considered this Spring and Summer.  

Unfinished 2020 State Legislation

Arizona HB 2740
The bill reduces the course of instruction for barbering from 1,500 to 1,000 hours; allows for pre-graduation testing; provides for out-of-state licensed professionals to provide services for up to two weeks to “persons who are attending an athletic, charitable, artistic or social event” in Arizona, and; corrects a statutory oversight by allowing hairstylists to remove superfluous hair from the neck.  Of interest to schools, the bill would: allow schools to offer both barbering and cosmetology programs if they have appropriately licensed instructors for each; allow students to provide off-campus services at a school sponsored event, and; permit schools to offer “similar” programs – for example, massage therapy – not regulated by the state’s cosmetology board. 

The enrolled House bill would require the newly constituted barbering and cosmetology board to “determine whether a reduction of instruction hours that are required for current licenses is necessary and how a reduction of instruction hours might affect reciprocity with other states.”  To this end, the amendment authorizes up to $750,000 from the barbering and cosmetology fund to prepare a report and recommendations to be submitted to the Governor and legislature on or before November 1, 2022.  

Status: Passed by the House.  Referred to the Senate Commerce and Rules Committees. 

California Sunset Legislation
While legislation has yet to been filed, Senator Steve Glazer – the Sunset Committee's lead co-chair – is seemingly focused on reducing the course of instruction for cosmetology from 1,600 hours and doing away with the Practical Exam. 

Iowa SF 2365
Iowa’s Senate State Government Committee voted unanimously in February to file SF 2365 as an approved committee bill.  The measure would merge the state’s cosmetology and barbering boards and reduce the course of instruction for cosmetology from 2,100 to 1,800 hours.  The bill also: removes "arranging, braiding, and dressing of hair" from the definition of cosmetology; replaces the state’s current 2,100 hour barbering license with a 1,500 hour barbering/hairstylist license, and; prohibits the newly combined Board from requiring instructors to have additional hours of training – beyond those required for a cosmetology license. 

Status: Introduced, placed on calendar, under Rule 28. 

Michigan HB 5438
The bill would deregulate barbering.  HB 5438 currently has three sponsors – two Republicans and Democratic Representative Cynthia Johnson from Detroit.  A companion bill – HB 5439 – was also filed to strike barbering licensure fees. 

Status: In the House Regulatory Reform Committee 

Minnesota HF 3202/SF 2898
These bills would deregulation hairstyling and makeup application. 

Status: HF 3202 was reported from the House Government Operations Committee and is currently in the House State Government Finance Division.

SF 2898 was reported from the Senate State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee and is currently in the Senate Finance Committee.

Ohio HB 399
The bill would reduce the course of instruction for cosmetology in the Buckeye State from 1,500 to 1,000 hours.  It also proposes other notable changes to the state’s cosmetology and barbering act, including:

• Reducing the course of instruction for hair design from 1,200 to 800 hours;
• Providing for early testing;
• Permitting school administration of the practical licensure exam;
• Increasing school surety bonds from $10,000 to an amount “equal to ten per cent of the school's gross income from tuition, fees, and other required institutional charges during the preceding calendar year, provided that the required amount of the bond shall be not less than ten thousand dollars and not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars;”
• Allowing cosmetology and barber schools to offer distance education in accordance with Board rules, and;
• Establishing apprenticeship programs.  These programs must pay at least a minimum wage and cannot be longer than 150% of the course of instruction at a school.  

Status: In the House State and Local Government Committee

Oklahoma SB 1166
The bill would eliminate licensure for cosmeticians, hairbraiders and demonstrators.  Oklahoma cosmeticians are currently required to obtain a 600-hour license to perform shampooing, hair arraigning and the application of makeup, including, but not limited to, using hairstyling tools and products.  Hairbraiders are not required to complete a specified course of instruction at a school but must pass a safety and sanitation test to perform hairbraiding, hairweaving techniques, and the application of hair extensions in a licensed cosmetology establishment.  The bill has been sent to the House where it is awaiting a committee referral. 

Status: Passed by the Senate 35 to 11. Sent to the House.   

Rhode Island H7484
The bill would reduce the course of instruction for a hairdresser's and cosmetician's license from 1,200 to 600 hours.  It also contains hour reductions for barbering (from 1,500 to 600 hours), manicuring (from 300 to 200 hours), and esthetics (from 600 to 300 hours). 

Status: House Corporations Committee hearing held.  The Committee recommended in March that the bill be retained in the Committee for further study. 

South Carolina H 4205
The bill would establish a 1,200-hour hair design license. 

Status: Reported from House Committee.  Floor consideration pending. 

Pending 2020 Bills Unlikely to Pass 

Illinois HB 5558
The bill would allow individuals to practicing barbering, cosmetology, esthetics, hair braiding, or nail technology without a license if they inform prospective clients. 

Tennessee SB 1914/HB 1945
The bill would allow a person to practice barbering or cosmetology – and about 18 other professions – without a license so long as the “recipient of the work acknowledges the person's lack of licensure and waives claims against the person.”  

If you are interested in reviewing the bill text of the measures listed above or to track bills from your state, please click here to visit 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. 

State Reopening Guidance 

A list of state reopening guidance for salons and other personal care businesses can be found here.  While over 15 states were listed at press time in this AACS State Relations report, additional guidance will be added as states finalize and post their reopening plans. 

COVID-19 Resources 

AACS Coronavirus Resource Center 
The bottom of this page contains a running list of state distance learning guidance.  It was compiled with assistance from the AACS State Relations Committee and/or a review of state board websites. Accordingly, developments may be occurring faster than our ability to capture/report on them. Please contact your state regulator(s) for the most current information. 

State and Local Government Responses to Covid-19
Stateside Associates, a state and local government relations firm, has created a chart with state legislative actions, executive agency actions, gubernatorial actions, and local government actions related to the outbreak of the coronavirus.  Executive actions closing retail and “non-essential” businesses will be of interest.  

National Governors Association Coronavirus Updates 

COVID-19 State Legislation – National Conference of State Legislatures 

PBA’s COVID-19 Information Page 

ISPA’s Reopening Toolkit