Some people in Indiana have been posting on facebook and twitter about this petition. They want people to sign it in order ensure that cosmetologists in Indiana will still be required to get education and training.  Indiana house bill 1006 has outraged the cosmetology community.  The claim is that an untrained cosmetologist will take over the business of those that got the license while it was required, and that they will risk the health of their patrons.

At first glace, it’s easy to agree with these assertions.  Depending on the service, I would definitely not want to go to a hairdresser that was not trained.  I certainly don’t think this is an easy job.  I think it’s intimidating and somewhat mysterious.  I’m glad that my hair stylist is trained because she colors my hair.  But, there are problems I see with this argumentation.  And, personally, I’m somewhat relieved and shocked to see that the state is considering backing away from any aspect of power and control.

I’ve ranted before about professional regulation.  (I even mentioned cosmetologists).  This post will review some of the points I made in the previous post.  

There are tons of reasons why I support house bill 1006.  Here are some of them:

• People who received the education can advertise as such and set themselves apart from the competition.  This should only benefit them in the long run.  As it is now, it appears to the public like everyone is on the same, level playing field.  Therefore, I have always asserted that licenses and certifications should be voluntary.
• Just because it’s not required by the state, doesn’t mean that there can’t be some kind of license or certification offered by the industry itself.  Jason from the comments section in the linked article said it well: “There’s no reason that the industry itself can’t set up a certification program with criteria based on their own standards and practices instead of relying on the government to issue licenses. All the schools can stay open and change the curriculum towards the Industry certification. This kind of thing is done all the time in the technology sector. Mechanics aren’t issued licenses via the government yet virtually every one employed at a respectable shop is ASE Certified. No one seems to have trouble trusting their lives to mechanics to properly fix their brakes.”   
• If the industry followed the line of thinking in the above point, it would actually lead to more jobs in the industry.  They could set up an agency of their own that would oversee these things.  Just like the ASE employs people, other, non-government companies/groups/organizations could form in order to pick up the slack (so to speak) left by the state’s choice to de-regulate.
• House bill 1006 would de-criminalize the little (or big) old lady that let her license expire but still wants to collect a few dollars when she cuts hair for the neighborhood kids.  Or, you can insert your own scenario here.  You know what I’m talking about.  I’ve documented over and over again on this blog about people getting in trouble for stupid things, so I’m all for de-criminalizing normalcy and getting by with less government control.
• It would make for more informed consumers.  As it currently stands, if I walk into a salon, I assume the person is licensed and has performed procedure X before.  I don’t bother to ask them whether they’re trained or not.
• Consumers will have more choices.  Perhaps the untrained person will not charge as much for a hair cut and some consumers would be willing to “risk it” by going to them.  But, most people will want to continue to receive services from trained professionals.  However, if they don’t care, that option will be open to them, whereas now it is not.  Nobody would be forced to go to an untrained cosmetologist.  They would make the informed decision to do so.

Now, if they would only stop issuing counseling licenses, I might stand a chance of getting a job in Indiana when my kids go to school.  To clarify that, I will copy a quote from my previous post on this subject:

When I lived in Illinois, I held a counseling license.  Guess what.  Now that I live in Indiana, I cannot get licensed here.  According to Indiana, I don’t have enough education (even though I have a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from one of the best programs in the nation) or experience (even though I was previously a licensed counselor in another state for three years and did two lengthy internships before that).  I do agree that states should have the prerogative to have different requirements.  What I don’t agree with and what always muddies the waters is government intervention at all.  Why does Indiana assume I can’t be a good counselor until I jump through their hoops while Illinois thought I did a fine job?  Why don’t we leave the whole thing to the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification or similar agencies?  After all, I had to do quite a bit to qualify for their certification.

Related posts:

1. Professional Regulation Rant
2. Cracking Down on Liars