'It would open doors.' Louisiana hair braiders, lawmaker plan to keep fighting state rules (2024)

Louisiana hair braiders and a New Orleans lawmaker say they plan to keep fighting to remove the state's burdensome licensing requirements after a bill died in committee during the recent legislative session.

Bill sponsor Rep. Mike Bayham, R-Chalmette, already has plans to resurrect the bill he sponsored next year. He said the current rule from the Board of Cosmetology that stylists receive 500 hours of education, which can cost as much as $20,000, before they can make a living braiding hair is unnecessary.

"The only requirements are a comb and hands," Bayham said, distinguishing braiding from other chemical-dependent styling like hair coloring and relaxers. "This is something people should be able to do without a license."

House Bill 745, he said, was one of many needed to remover too-strict requirements that make it harder for residents across Louisiana to work. Though the braiding bill failed, another bill that removed licensing requirements for florists passed with little opposition.

Bayham said he hopes to see the braiding bill do the same next session. But it could still face hurdles if concerns over safety and sanitation are raised again.

Opinions on hair braiding rules

During a legislative committee meeting in April, lawyers, lawmakers, licensed stylists and educators who teach cosmetology students from across the state had a range of opinions.

Meagan Forbes, a lawyer with the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit that fights government overreach, argued in favor of removing the requirements. She said only 40 people statewide have completed the permitting requirement to be braiders.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Mississippi where there is no educational requirement to braid hair, more than 6,000 people have registered as braiders.

"Forty people have taken (the test to get a permit to braid in Louisiana) but presumably there are thousands of braiders in the state," she said.

Braided hair is engrained in Black culture, and over 30% of Louisiana residents are African American according to the last census. It has been a practical and stylish option for both men, woman and children for generations, which means that most people who get their hair braided in Louisiana are likely going to unlicensed braiders, Forbes said. If this bill passed, it would allow them to work legally.

Brittany Baptiste, a New Orleans esthetician whowants to extend her services to include braiding supported the new bill. She agreed that safety and sanitation training might be important for aspiring braiders. But after already receiving 650 hours of training to get her esthetician license— which included near 40 hours on focused on safety — she felt a test that would allow her to prove her knowledge to start working as a braider.

However, Amber Ward, who owns hair braiding salons in New Orleans, Slidell and Laplace,said increasing required hours to 600 may open the door for more licensed braiders. A longer 600-hour license would meet federal requirements to give students access financial aid and loans to pay for school and make the license valid in other states.

Sheri Morris, attorney for the Louisiana Cosmetology Board, said that board members were appointed by Gov. Jeff Landry days before the bill was introduced. Still, she said it's unlikely that the board would support removing all educational requirements as the bill intended.

"I have been representing the board for some years ... and I don't know that any board member, prior or current, believes that the 500-hour requirement is not a necessary requirement for education," she said, adding that the required hours had already been reduced from 1,500.

Harvey salon owner sues

As Bayham waits to reintroduce the bill next session, a lawsuit over the licensing requirements that began five years ago is still going through appeals.

Forbes is the lawyer for Ashley N'Dakpri, who owns Afro Touch Salon in Harvey and whose family is from the Ivory Coast in Africa, has been fighting to get requirements removed for the braiders who work in her salon. Many of the women are African immigrants hoping to make a living using braiding skills that are deeply tied to their culture.

She also said the Cosmetology Board is struggling to find consensus among the stylists who braid hair because they are attempting to regulate culture. When the lawsuit began, the 1,500 hour rule was still in place and the closest braiding school was in Lafayette, more than two hours away from her salon.

"It just wasn't realistic for us," N'Dakpri said. "Who is going to go to school two and a half hours away? Who's going to pay the bills? Who's going to run the business?"

Add in the issue of cost and a language barrier for new immigrants, and African women are all but cut out of the industry despite many of them learning to braid and styling hair since their pre-teen years, N'Dakpri said.

Shameka Lucas, a fully licensed stylist work works with N'Dakpri at Afro Touch, said even though she got her license when the requirement was still 1,500 hours, she applauded when the hours were reduced to 500 and said she hopes that future braiders will be able to work withoutrequirements that can lead to long-term debt.

"It would open doors for a lot of people that really have the skills but can't afford to go to school," Lucas said, adding that she is still paying off the debt she took on to pay for her education nearly 15 years after leaving cosmetology school.