Maryland and Colorado have become the fifth and sixth states to adopt the Cosmetology Licensure Compact, an interstate agreement to allow license reciprocity for beauty, grooming, and wellness professionals.
Once seven states have enacted the compact as law, it will go into effect.
Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, and Virginia have already passed cosmetology compact bills into law, while versions of the legislation are being considered in California, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Tennessee.
Currently, a licensed cosmetology professional in one state must undergo continuing education and testing to get re-licensed in another.
The Future of the Beauty Industry Coalition, which is championing the interstate compact along with the Department of Defense and the Council of State Governments, calls this a “barrier that puts limitations on our industry.”
The Cosmetology Licensure Compact is similar to other interstate policies created to improve license reciprocity in member states for a range of occupations.
The compacts include creation of a data system allowing member states to share information about license holders, including disciplinary actions, according to the National Center for Interstate Compacts (NCIC).
Sixteen other professions, mostly in the medical field, currently have occupational licensure compacts while two are in development, the NCIC says.