Signaling a broader discussion about less government oversight, two states have introduced bills in the 2025 legislative cycle that would reduce or eliminate the need to hold a cosmetology license in order to perform salon or barbershop services.
Countering that conversation is the Professional Beauty Association, which says rolling back cosmetology licensure standards in any state would be disastrous for businesses and consumers alike. The industry advocacy group has vocally opposed bills introduced this year in Arizona and Iowa to do just that.
Though the so-called “Arizona DOGE” bill failed to pass, the Iowa bill is still pending and the ongoing conversation remains potent.
The PBA's Director of Government Affairs, Myra Irizarry Reddy, maintains that lowering cosmetology standards would benefit no one.
“The current licensing process ensures beauty professionals are educated in sanitation, chemical safety, and client protection,” Reddy says. “These are not arbitrary rules but essential safeguards.”
Businesses would be put at risk, she says. “Allowing untrained individuals to provide salon services (expose) businesses to lawsuits, liability, and uninsured workers.”
In Iowa, House Bill 711 would create an “establishment training program” letting salons and barbershops hire unlicensed cosmetologists, as long as the client is informed about it. The PBA is asking Iowa residents to speak out against the proposed bill.
The “Arizona DOGE” bill — named after the new federal department created to cut wasteful spending — proposed dissolving eight state boards, including the Arizona Barbering & Cosmetology Board.
AZ House Bill 2039 was struck down in a bipartisan vote, with many legislators citing the cosmetology board dissolution as their reason for resisting. Other, less drastic "DOGE-inspired" bills to reduce responsibilities from state agencies continue to move through Arizona's legislature.
In voting against the Arizona bill, state Rep. Anna Abeytia, a certified lash technician licensed by the state board, called it “an extremely harmful bill to people like myself (and) other people in the industry.”
The PBA has been quick to rally its members to oppose state efforts to reduce licensing standards.
“Why must beauty professionals continuously explain, year after year, that our career choice is valid, requires education and training, and contributes to a thriving industry?” Reddy asks in exasperation.
She points out the act of reducing a state’s cosmetology licensing standards would jeopardize its ability to participate in interstate license reciprocity, an agreement that makes it easier for cosmetologists to move from state to state without having to re-take licensing exams.
Reddy calls state-level cosmetology rollbacks an attempt to fix what isn’t broken.
“This not only threatens consumer safety, but also erodes public trust in a profession that relies on proper training and licensing to maintain health and hygiene standards," she says.
“The professional beauty industry has had enough.”