Governor Takes Aim at the California State Board

Is it to say hasta la vista to the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology? As Governor Schwartzenegger attempts to balance the budget and provide a more business-friendly climate in California, the state board is one of several consumer boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) that may receive the axe under proposed recommendations by the California Performance review (CPR).

This is not the first time the board has been under assault, undergoing sunset reviews in 1997 and 2002 that resulted in name changes and changes in oversight. None of these changes, however, led to the end of licensure of beauty professionals, as many had feared.

At press time, the CPR proposals are still being debated Fred Jones, an attorney and lobbyist with the Professional Beauty Federation of California (PBFC), has mixed emotions about the proposed changes, saying the organization supports a public forum like a state board to air grievances, but has been dissatisfied with the current board. “As emotionally difficult as it is, the PBFC has concluded that we ought to give this new administration an opportunity to prove that their reorganization proposal will bring a streamlined, coherent and accountable system of governance over our industry, even if that means ‘blowing-up’ the state board,” says Jones.