Senator Stewart, Rep. Morales Bills to Allow Barber Services to Go Mobile
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FNN) – In June 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Occupational Freedom and Opportunity Act (House Bill 1193) to remove unnecessary barriers to employment regarding barbers, hair salons nail salons and other licensed professionals.
In an effort to support local small business owners, Senator Linda Stewart (D – Orlando) and Representative Daisy Morales (D – Orlando) have filed identical bills, Senate Bill 1176 and House Bill 855, granting licensed barbers the ability to perform services outside of a brick and mortar barber shop.
“The state has been on a trend of deregulating professions to provide access to services for more Floridians. This bill addresses an oversight in the recent deregulation package that allowed cosmetologists to perform services outside of their establishments, but failed to grant barbers that same privilege,” said Stewart.
The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted this difference in rules applying to these professionals. While the state began to open back up, many barbers did not have the ability to adapt their services to peoples safety needs by working out of their shops.
“This will level the playing field, allowing barbers to earn a living outside of the traditional barbershop. Especially this year, people need and deserve flexibility. This will be good for our licensed barbers and their customers.” said Morales.
Barbers will still need to hold a valid license from the state to offer their services outside of licensed establishments, and the bills do not change any of the current licensing requirements.
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