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Minutes for SB348 - Committee on Health and Human Services
Short Title
Exempting the practice of threading from the practice of cosmetology.
Minutes Content for Mon, Mar 7, 2022
Nicole Hines, Vice Chairperson, Kansas Board of Cosmetology, provided testimony in opposition to SB348 (Attachment 13). The mission of the Kansas Board of Cosmetology is to protect the health and safety of the consuming public by licensing qualified individuals and enforcing standards. The process of hair removal can cause small droplets of blood to rise to the surface and can expose the client to possible infection and the practitioner to blood-borne pathogens. Knowledgeable procedural practices and skill are necessary to prevent the spread of infection or disease. Sanitation is also a concern for both the practitioner and the facility. These concerns would be covered with the required training. There also exists the issue of no oversight. There must be accountability.
Ms. Hines responded to questions from the committee.
Stephenie Dugan, Private Citizen, provided testimony in opposition to SB348 (Attachment 14). Ms. Dugan noted several issues of concern for her. The first is in regards to the safe practice of disinfection and sanitation. This includes proper washing of hands, the use of disposable gloves, single use items, and the proper sterilization and storage of instruments. Secondly, there needs to be a proper comprehension of the structure of the skin. The point of the brow is a delicate area. If hair removal is done improperly, there can be discoloration of the skin, infection, warts, a rash, or injury or inflammation to the blood capillaries.
Susan Wurtele, Private Citizen, provided testimony in opposition to SB348 (Attachment 15). Ms. Wurtele stated that there are areas in the curriculum to become licensed that are critical to threaders. These include skin anatomy and physiology, infection control and sanitation. While there could have been a possible solution through compromise, that did not happen. SB348 lacks measures to insure an individual that identifies as a threader possesses the skills, knowledge training, business acumen, infection control and sanitation compliance standards to freely provide a service to the public. Without quality education and license requirements there is no way to guarantee quality and safety measures of threaders.
Len Melvin, Private Citizen. provided testimony in opposition to SB348 (Attachment 16). Hair removal should be regulated by our state as this service is one of the higher risks for consumers in the beauty industry. Hair removal and infection control are areas that are covered in the state curriculum. As the beauty industry continues to evolve, there will be more services like threading that will grow with popularity that will need to need proper training and licensing. These should be subject to inspection and the facilities would be required to have inspector audits.
Ashley Hoffmeier, Private Citizen, provided testimony in opposition to SB348 (Attachment 17). This attempt to deregulate a service from the licensing statutes should be concerning for the consuming public. There are reasons why the beauty industry is regulated. The most important is the protection of the public. Hair removal is one of the most invasive and dangerous services in the licensed practice. Concerns regarding infection control and blood exposure events must be considered. A comparison was made to the difference in the training of an EMT and a paramedic. Deregulation is a slippery slope. It creates a detrimental step back.
The following provided written-only opponent testimony:
Holly Day, Private Citizen (Attachment 18)
Danny Ramsey, Private Citizen (Attachment 19)
Liz Schiller, Private Citizen (Attachment 20)
Jessica Pluff, Private Citizen (Attachment 21)
Michelle Gibson, Private Citizen (Attachment 22)
Summer Serrano, Private Citizen (Attachment 23)
Kamaljeet Bhandal, Private Citizen (Attachment 24)
Michaelle Holland, Private Citizen (Attachment 25)
The hearing on SB348 was closed.
