HB1194

The amendment adds a new section requiring the Cosmetology Commission to allow out-of-state applicants with non-equivalent cosmetology-related licenses to substitute relevant work experience for up to half their required education hours (at a 2-to-1 ratio), while also clarifying the commission's rulemaking authority and expanding the waiver process to include applicants from territories. This **strengthens** the bill by creating a mandatory credit mechanism for work experience rather than just authorizing it.

The amendment changes the bill from merely authorizing the Cosmetology Commission to credit work experience for out-of-state applicants to requiring ("shall") the commission to do so, and adds an emergency clause to make the law effective immediately, thereby strengthening the bill's mandate and accelerating its implementation.

The amendment shifts the bill from requiring the Cosmetology Commission to credit work experience for out-of-state applicants to merely clarifying that the Commission has the authority to do so, and replaces an emergency declaration with a requirement that the Commission promulgate rules on the matter. This WEAKENS the bill by making work experience credits permissive rather than mandatory.

The amendment clarifies that the Cosmetology Commission must—not merely may—promulgate rules for crediting work experience toward education requirements for out-of-state applicants, and it restructures the reciprocity provisions in § 36-15-19.2 to explicitly authorize licensing of applicants with non-equivalent out-of-state credentials if they have sufficient relevant work experience to make up education deficiencies. This STRENGTHENS the bill by making the commission's rulemaking authority mandatory rather than discretionary and by more clearly establishing the pathway for work experience substitution.