The following testimony was submitted for consideration by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on Feb. 7, 2025, by the Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.
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Feb. 7, 2025, 9:50 a.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 229 and Videoconference
To: Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection
Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, Chair
Sen. Carol Fukunaga, Vice-Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: COMMENTS IN SUPPORT OF SB1621 — RELATING TO NAIL TECHNICIANS
Aloha Chair Keohokalole, Vice-Chair Fukunaga and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii would like to offer its support for SB1621, which would require the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to adopt rules establishing a license and corresponding requirements for nail technicians.
This bill is a commonsense reform of Hawaii’s overly broad cosmetology license regime. Obtaining a cosmetology license in Hawaii can be both expensive and time-consuming, yet much of the instruction in that program is not relevant to nail technicians.
The state Board of Barbering and Cosmetology already recognizes that nail technicians have separate needs and requirements, hence the different training standards listed for nail technicians in the Hawaii Beauty Operator license application.[1]
Creating a separate, more relevant path to licensure for nail technicians would expand opportunity for those who wish to enter the profession but are deterred by onerous licensing requirements.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] “Beauty Operator Application,” Hawaii Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, accessed Feb. 5, 2025.
