Montgomery, Ala.—On April 7, SB 183 by Sen. Merika Coleman, was passed by the Alabama Legislature and now awaits the signature of the governor. The bill would remove the requirement for individuals who practice natural hair styling to obtain a license from the state cosmetology board, a practice that 37 other states already allow.

Natural hair styling includes services such as cleansing, weaving or interweaving, extending, locking, braiding, and arranging hair, so long as these services do not involve cutting, coloring, permanent waving, relaxing, removing hair, or the use of chemical treatments. The Institute for Justice (IJ), a national public interest law firm that has worked with braiders nationwide for more than 30 years since its founding to challenge these types of laws in courtrooms and state capitals joins the hair braiders, community activists, and political leaders that supported this bill in praising its passage. 

“This bill represents a major step forward in cutting unnecessary red tape that prevents people from entering and succeeding in the beauty industry,” said Courtney Fontaine, Legislative Policy Associate for IJ. “We thank Sen. Coleman for her hard work as well as all the community leaders for working on this bill that will help grow economic freedom in Alabama.”

By making the natural hair styling licensure optional, the bill would expand economic opportunity across Alabama by allowing more individuals to earn a living through natural hair braiding without first completing hundreds of hours of costly training. This change supports a long-standing cultural practice that uses no chemicals or heat while opening a clear and accessible pathway to small business ownership. It will help bring existing braiders into the legal economy, encourage new entrepreneurs to start businesses, improve transparency for consumers, and strengthen local communities by supporting safe and lawful work.

Meaningfully, SB 183 would continue to allow practitioners to obtain a voluntary natural hairstylist license if they choose to do so and meet existing requirements. It would also ensure that students enrolled in public high school career and technical education cosmetology programs remain eligible to pursue a voluntary natural hairstylist license.

Nationwide, state-mandated cosmetology school is expensive and time-consuming. On average, it costs more than $16,000 and takes about a year. Many students are lower-income, and most take on sizable student debt, borrowing more than $7,300 in federal loans on average. Cosmetology schools also do a poor job of graduating students on time—or even at all. On average, fewer than a third of students graduate on time. As a result, students are delayed or even blocked from working and may have to pay the schools even more money.

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To arrange interviews on this subject, journalists may contact Phillip Suderman, IJ’s Communications Project Manager, at [email protected] or (850) 376-4110. More information on the case is available at: https://beautynotbarriers.com/