Petition Test

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Letter to lawmakers

<table width="600" align="center">
	<td width="600">Dear Senator,

Legislation introduced by the Ohio Salon Association to “address overly burdensome cosmetology and barbering licensing law” is an attack on professional licensure in the cosmetology and barbering industry and on anyone who chooses to seek advanced licensure.

While this legislation is couched as economically favorable for cosmetologists and barbers, it is actually an effort by a non-profit corporation that is a front for big salon business to control the market for cosmetologists and barbers.

I. Argument 1: Public safety
<ul>
 	<li>Less education results in less experience and expertise, thereby creating greater risk of harm to individuals for improper performance of services.</li>
 	<li>According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of personal appearance jobs (Salon and Spa Industry) is projected to increase 15 percent between 2010 and 2020, slightly above the rate of growth of total U.S. employment (14 percent) during the same period.
<ul>
 	<li>As a result, education is extremely important and public safety measures are equally taught and learned in theory as they are taught and learned through practical implementation and experience while overseen by instructors.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
II. Argument 2: Harm to small businesses
<ul>
 	<li>A less educated workforce will result in cosmetologists and barbers who will be ill-equipped to move straight in to entrepreneurship and independent contracting which is currently growing rapidly under current regulation and law</li>
 	<li>While large salons have the capacity and infrastructure to engage in on the job training, small businesses do not have the infrastructure, time, or luxury to engage in these services.</li>
 	<li>Entry into work force of less trained people could mean a variety of scenarios that are harmful to small businesses:
<ul>
 	<li>New graduates choose to go to larger salons with aggressive non-compete contracts to obtain on the job training.
<ul>
 	<li>Monopolization/concentration of all new graduates in larger salons.
<ul>
 	<li>No candidates for small, family owned businesses that make up a large portion of the salon market.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li>New graduates enter salons without sufficient training levels, thereby making them less likely to succeed on their own.</li>
 	<li> Small businesses forced to divert resources away from other economic growth to engage in on the job training.</li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li>Businesses of less than 20 employees (like a salon) make up 89.6 percent of employers in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012)
<ul>
 	<li>Harm to small businesses = harm to a large employment sector.</li>
 	<li>Per the Professional Beauty Association, the salon and spa industry out-performed the overall private sector during the recession.</li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li>Per 2012 data from the Professional Beauty Association, roughly 1.1 million professionals work in personal appearance occupations in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Individuals in these occupations have a much higher rate of self-employment, as compared to the overall workforce.</li>
 	<li>Where self-employed, obtaining on the job training is much more difficult, thereby increasing risk of public safety concerns.</li>
</ul>
III. Argument 3: Harm to women owned businesses
<ul>
 	<li>61% of the salons and spas are owned by women and 98% of these business are single unit establishments</li>
</ul>
Counter-arguments 
 
I. The Ohio Salon Association advances that the legislation enables new graduates to enter the beauty industry with less debt and the ability to repay student loans.
<ul>
 	<li>Argument is unsupported by data regarding student debt for new graduates.</li>
 	<li>Student debt is a large problem nationally, not limited to the cosmetology industry.</li>
 	<li>Reduction in hours does not mean reduction in student loan debt because out of pocket costs would increase for students who rely on financial aid.</li>
</ul>
</td>
</table>