PHOENIX - A new bill in the legislature would eliminate licenses for the blowout hair service at salons.
Lawmakers who support the measure say licensing to provide those services is simply not necessary. But, hair stylists and others who are licensed are protesting the bill.
If passed, the bill would mean that anyone could be paid to wash, blow dry and style hair without getting a license from the state first.
"If all you're doing is washing, shampooing and blow drying hair, you shouldn't need a license," says supporter Jenny Bentley. "This is an activity that millions of Americans do in their home every day without any hazard or damages to themselves."
Gov. Doug Ducey pushed to get rid of the licensing requirements in his State of the State address in January. He believes stylists who do just the washing and blow drying should not need a license. His supporters add that the hundreds of hours of training it takes to be able to get a hair-only license is a waste of time.
But teachers like Shirley Serafin, at Paul Mitchell The School Phoenix, say they're concerned about how the passage of this bill could be a real public health concern.
"Cosmetologists are trained to recognize bacterial, parasitic diseases like body lice, ring worm, head lice, things like that," Serafin said. "Those are all things that they are trained to recognize, identify and contain and keep from spreading."
Serafin says she also worries that unlicensed professionals could damage hair during the styling and blow drying process, because they may not be properly trained on how to protect it.
This bill now needs to be approved by the full House.