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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR King
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/10/07
3/2/07 HB 972/aHHGAC/aHFL
SHORT TITLE Body Art Safe Practices Act
SB
ANALYST C. Sanchez
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$300.0
Recurring
Barbers and
Cosmetology Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Attorney General’s Office (AGO)
Regulation and Licensing Department (RLD)
Department of Health (DOH)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of HFL Amendment
The House Floor Amendment to House Bill 972 amends NMSA Section 61-17A-20 of the
Barbers and Cosmetologists Act to eliminate language in current law prohibiting restoration of a
barber, cosmetologist, instructor, esthetician, and manicurist-pedicurist or electrologist license if
the licensee fails to restore the license within one year of its expiration. The amendment modifies
that section to allow those licensees to request restoration of licensees expired for more than one
year pursuant to rules promulgated by the Barbers and Cosmetologists Board.
Synopsis of HHGAC Amendment
The House Health and Government Affairs amendment replaces the ($340,000) general fund
appropriation with a lower ($300,000) appropriation from the Barbers and Cosmetology fund.
All other changes are technical.
pg_0002
House Bill 972/aHHGAC/aHFL – Page
2
Synopsis of Original Bill
House Bill 972 enacts the Body Art Safe Practices Act administered by the Board of Barbers and
Cosmetologists (Board) requiring the licensure of body artists and establishments, and the
placement of safety regulations to protect the general public.
Section 16 amends Section 61-17A-6 NMSA 1978 to define board powers and add to the Board
two licensed body artists with at least five years experience in their practice and reducing the
number of public members from four to two. Section 16-A-12 provides for the addition of a
board administrator and additional staff as necessary to carry out the Body Art Safe Practices
Act.
Section 17 provides an appropriation of $340,000 from the general fund to the barbers and
cosmetology fund for the administration of the Body Art Safe Practices Act.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
It is unknown how many body artists or body artist establishments are subject to licensure, so it
is difficult to estimate the cost to the Board to administer this new act. However, it should be
noted that the Board could not administer this act without additional resources, including
inspectors, operational staff, instate travel funds, and per-diem.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
•
Licensure of persons who fall within the Body Art Safe Practices Act would fall under
the jurisdiction of the Board;
•
Annual inspection of body art establishments;
•
The act establishes testing requirement for individuals seeking licensure as a body artist.
•
The Board may suspend a license immediately without prior notice to the holder of the
license if it determines, after inspection, that conditions within a body art establishment
present a substantial danger of illness, serious physical harm or death to customers who
might patronize a body art establishment; such suspension shall be effective upon
communication to an employee physically present on the premises of the body art
establishment;
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
The additional work necessary to insure that body artists are licensed and establishments are
inspected annually will require additional field staff relative to the number of body artists and
establishments discovered. State wide, total number of body artists and establishments is
unknown.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The Board will be required to:
•
create requirements for licensure that demonstrate the employee has the training and
experience necessary to perform body piercing, tattooing or scarification;
pg_0003
House Bill 972/aHHGAC/aHFL – Page
3
•
issue licenses for body art establishment;
•
issue licenses for body artist;
•
annually inspect the body art establishment premises;
•
determine procedures for inspection of body art establishments;
•
promulgate rules for revocation and suspension of licenses;
•
hold administrative hearings for license suspension; and
•
Research blood-borne pathogen training to determine which programs are approved.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
It is unclear whether Section 17 is new material to be included in the Body Art Practices Act or
amended to 61-17A NMSA 1978.
Section 17 line 15 should read 2008 for administration of the Body Art
(not Act) Safe Practices
Act.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
Several other states have adopted laws regulating the administration of body art. In New Mexico,
the City of Albuquerque has adopted a “Body Art Ordinance", no. 33-1998, imposing
requirements governing permits, identification, operator age, sanitation, waste handling, etc. The
City of Carlsbad has also adopted its own ordinance regulating the practice of body art.
Non-sterile body modification equipment has been implicated in the spread of HIV, viral
hepatitis, and other blood-borne infections including septicemia. New Mexico is one of only two
states and the District of Columbia that does not have state regulation of the tattoo industry. In a
state with high prevalence rates of hepatitis C (an estimated 30,000 individuals are hepatitis C
positive). If enacted, HB 972 would provide regulation and oversight of the “body art" industry.
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
Regulation and administration to establish levels for health/safety and disease prevention efforts
in body art establishments would not be established.
CS/nt