A Breakthrough for New Jersey Braiders: New Legislation Won’t Require a License to Practice

By Maiysha Kai via https://theglowup.theroot.com

Big news for braiding entrepreneurs in New Jersey: Legislation that would exempt hair braiders from the state’s current licensing requirements has received legislative approval and will now be submitted to the governor.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblywomen Angela McKnight (D-Hudson) and Shanique Speight (D-Essex), would not only remove the stringent and expensive licensing regulations currently required of general cosmetologists, but would create a new regulatory entity to oversee practitioners comprised of a six-member “Hair Braiding Establishment Advisory Committee” within the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety under the current New Jersey State Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling. Said Speight via press release:

We should be encouraging entrepreneurship, not bogging it down with senseless bureaucracy. Why are we asking hair braiders to spend time and money on unrelated training for a skill they’ve already mastered? Creating an advisory committee to oversee these establishments will help protect consumers without placing unnecessary burdens on owners.