The following testimony was submitted for consideration by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on Feb. 7, 2025, by the Senate Committees 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 SB1620 — RELATING TO NATURAL HAIR BRAIDING
Aloha Chair Keohokalole, Vice-Chair Fukunaga and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii would like to offer its strong support for SB1620, which would exempt natural hair braiders from state licensing requirements under certain conditions.
This bill would add much-needed clarity to the current state licensing regulations, which place hair braiders in a difficult position.
Hair braiders fall under the oversight of the Hawaii Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, which determined — in response to Cornwell v. Hamilton, a 1999 Ninth Circuit case holding that California’s mandated cosmetology curriculum was largely irrelevant to braiders — that braiders in Hawaii require a better regulatory solution than they currently have.[1] But that better solution has never materialized.
Thus, hair braiders in Hawaii are technically required to have a cosmetology license in order to publicly practice their craft for money. Yet, that requirement is not being enforced by the state Board because of questions about its legality.
In other words, the Board looks the other way on braiding while still holding the position that can — and eventually might — put forth licensing regulations for braiders.
This means that, for years, Hawaii braiders have been stuck in limbo. The legality of their trade is in question, and nothing prevents the Board from handing down an onerous series of regulations that could drive them out of business.
Meanwhile, the state’s cosmetology license is — as recognized by the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology — completely unsuited to the practice of braiding.
In fact, the cosmetology license itself is onerous. At an average cost of $21,829, cosmetology programs in Hawaii are among the most expensive in the nation.[2]
A Hawaii cosmetology license also requires 1,800 educational hours,[3] but very little of that time is spent on braiding or skills necessary to a braiding salon. Even the lower requirements for a hairdressing license — 1,250 hours of beauty school training[4] — still require applicants to spend substantial amounts of time and money for an education that is largely irrelevant to braiding.
SB1620 takes a sensible approach to this issue by exempting hair braiders from cosmetology licensing requirements so long as their activities are limited to braiding.
It is clear that there is no real risk to public health involved in allowing braiders to operate freely in Hawaii. Many other states have safely deregulated the practice, and Hawaii has declined to establish braiding regulations for years.
Currently, 34 states completely exempt braiders from licensure, and 22 of those states have done so within the past 10 years.[5]
An additional consideration is that hair braiders are often women serving minority communities, with natural hair braiding often a traditional cultural practice.
The Committee should support greater opportunity and entrepreneurship in these communities by passing SB1620 and eliminating unnecessary regulation of hair braiders.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Email exchange between the Grassroot Institute and the Hawaii Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, Aug. 6, 2024.
[2] Mindy Menjou, Michael Bednarczuk and Amy Hunter, “Beauty School Debt and Drop-outs: How State Cosmetology Licensing Fails Aspiring Beauty Workers,” Institute for Justice, July 2021, p. 34.
[3] Ibid, p.24.
[4] “Beauty Operator Application,” Hawaii Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, accessed Feb. 5, 2025.
[5] “Natural Hair Braiding Opportunity and Freedom Act,” Institute for Justice, accessed Feb. 5, 2025.
