Board takes positions on bills including temporary manicurist exempt status; urges caution on school oversight expansion

At its Aug. 6 meeting the State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology reviewed pending legislation and recorded formal board positions on several measures ahead of the 2025–26 legislative cycle.

Board staff summarized bills of note. The board agreed to maintain a watch position on proposals that would expand board authority over private schools and require sharing of BPPE citations (staff warned of overlap with other agencies). The board supported Senate Bill 470 to extend temporary Bagley‑Keene teleconferencing flexibilities for public bodies through 2030.

Most prominently, the board voted to support Assembly Bill 1514 (a labor-related measure) that would extend — for a limited period — the exemption that applies to manicurists from California’s ABC independent‑contractor test. That change would keep manicurists able to choose their employment model while the legislature evaluates longer-term reform; board members said an extension would allow more time for analysis and stakeholder engagement.

The board took a watch position on bills related to licensing-exam interpreters and on an initiative to expedite licensure for descendants of enslaved people. Staff also reported on other bills that either were not moving or did not directly affect board operations.

Panelists and public commenters urged care in asking the legislature to expand the board’s oversight of schools and private-postsecondary education because other agencies — notably BPPE — play primary roles and legislators will weigh mission and jurisdictional questions.

The board recorded its positions by roll call vote and asked staff to continue tracking the listed bills and to return with recommended statutory language for any measure the board decides to sponsor or actively support.