State Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, announced Thursday she will drop a controversial bill that aimed to remove certain exemptions from salon booth renters after hearing from hundreds of hairstylists who said they were concerned it would threaten their profession.
“I want to be clear that it was never my intent to cause stress and anxiety to salon workers, much less jeopardize their livelihood,” Keiser said in a statement. “This entire process was an example of how democracy works best.”
In its original form, Senate Bill 5326 sought to ban booth renting – a common practice where hairstylists rent space in a salon – but Keiser dropped that portion of the bill last week after public outcry.
Now Keiser will also kill the rest of the bill that would have removed booth renter exemptions from workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance. Keiser also implied in interviews that the bill would also have removed exemptions from B&O taxes, although booth renters already pay those as small business owners.
Hairstylists and cosmetologists packed a committee hearing Monday in Olympia to express their concern about the bill, saying that as self-employed business owners booth renters should not have to pay unemployment or workers comp.
Kesier said she originally brought the bill forward to create a level playing field for salon owners and booth renters.
Although the booth renter bill is now dead, Keiser said she would still focus her efforts on fair employment practices, including legislation around non-compete agreements, which Keiser said hairstylists raised concerns about in the hearing.
That legislation, Senate Bill 5478, would limit non-compete contracts for employees and independent contractors.
Cosmetologists are still concerned about another bill, Senate Bill 5513, that seeks to clarify the definitions of employees versus independent contractors.