Senate panel advances bill allowing unlimited cosmetology retests, adds enforcement and licensing flexibility

Senate Bill 22, a set of technical fixes to last year’s cosmetology reforms, won committee approval Tuesday by the Kentucky State Senate Standing Committee on Licensing and Occupations.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Reginald Thomas of Senate District 13, extends unlimited retakes of licensing exams to cosmetologists statewide, clarifies the board’s authority to order emergency closures of facilities that intentionally employ unlicensed workers, allows the board to hire an executive director who is not a cosmetologist if that person otherwise meets managerial qualifications, and recognizes comparable licenses issued by U.S. territories.

The changes are designed to complete and tidy reforms enacted in 2024 and respond to findings in a recent Legislative Research Commission oversight report on the Board of Cosmetology. Supporters…