Hair braiding has been the prime example of over-regulation in Missouri government, and with good reason.
For years, people who braid hair as a business have pushed, unsuccessfully, to remove a state law that requires them to become licensed cosmetologists. That requires them to take — and pay for — more than 1,000 hours of education, just to braid hair.
This year, the Legislature finally approved a bill to eliminate the requirement. Instead, hair braiders simply will be required to register, pay a $20 fee and watch an instructional video.
The new law takes effect Aug. 28.
Attorney General Josh Hawley backed off his office’s defense of the soon-to-be outdated requirements that hair braiders be licensed as cosmetologists, Hawley said in a news release.
Hawley said the state is waiving its response in a U.S. Supreme Court lawsuit against the requirements because the case will be irrelevant once the new law is in effect.
That’s the proper response, and it paves the way for sane regulations that will allow hair braiders to make a living without an undo amount of government interference, right?
Not so fast.
In a recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch column, Tony Messenger reported the instructional video that will be required viewing for hair braiders hasn’t been made. The “Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners — which is controlled by industry appointments — has refused to make the video,” according to the column.
“It is completely crazy,” Dan Alban, the attorney representing the hair braiders, said in the column. The board is “in complete defiance of what the Legislature did. It’s quite shocking to me.”
The board should do what’s required for the implementation of the new law, and Hawley should defend the new law, if needed.
Meanwhile, Gov. Mike Parson said through a spokesman in Messenger’s column that he supports the new law and is “evaluating the board and considering appointments.”
Hopefully, the board will do the right thing and quickly implement the law the way it was intended. Removing this unnecessary government regulation will remove a big barrier to starting a hair-braiding business.
News Tribune