TDLR outlines rulemaking and timeline to implement HB 1560 consolidation

TDLR officials presented a timeline for implementing House Bill 1560 and stressed that the law consolidates barbering and cosmetology into a single statute while leaving individual license scopes intact. "This merger is not making a barber a cosmetologist," Education Examination Division Director Ray Bizarro told attendees.

Deputy Executive Director David Gonzalez and Assistant General Counsel Derek Burkhalter described the multi-step rulemaking process that follows statutory change: agency drafting, internal review (including financial analysis and the governor's office), advisory board consideration, publication in the Texas Register, a 30-day public comment period, and a final commission meeting. Burkhalter said the proposed rules were published to the Texas Register and that the commission meeting to consider adoption was scheduled for Dec. 6. "Our planned effective date for the rules is January 1," he said, while noting that many license-type and curricular changes are scheduled later (for example, Sept. 1, 2023).

TDLR emphasized that most changes are administrative and operational on the agency side — combining five prior statutory chapters into a single chapter and merging rule chapters — and that the core scope-of-practice and licensing examinations for barbers and cosmetologists will remain unchanged. Rebecca Abbas, one of the division leads, summarized completed steps, including the deregulation of the wig specialist license and initial instructor-license transitions on renewals.

The department invited public participation during the rule-adoption window and explained how to submit written comments and sign up to speak at the commission meeting. Officials said they will post explanatory guides and updated rulebooks on the TDLR website as the process advances and that the department expects to stagger effective dates so schools, businesses, and IT systems can prepare.

Next steps include continued outreach, refinement of proposed rules in response to public comment, and the commission vote. TDLR asked industry members to watch the Dec. 6 meeting and submit comments if they want to influence final rule language.