Attempt to “level the playing field” by punishing hairstylists has gone awry
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patrick Connor, Washington State Director, 360-789-3355, [email protected]
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, 415-640-5156, [email protected]
OLYMPIA, Wash., Jan. 26, 2019—It started as an attempt to “level the playing field” on an already flat surface by banning booth rentals by self-employed hairstylists, but when Senate Bill 5326 started getting widely publicized criticism, its author, Sen. Karen Keiser, made revisions that left the measure even more confusing.
On Monday, January 18, beginning at 10 a.m., the Senate Commerce & Labor Committee will try and untangle the mess that SB 5326 would create.
Keiser’s revision of her original bill has left in its wake dozens of questions on components of it dealing with the B&O Tax, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, paid family and medical leave, and even property taxes. Further detail can be read here.
“The net effect of Sen. Keiser’s proposal is to impose new tax obligations – for unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation – on a targeted segment of small-business owners,” said Patrick Connor, NFIB state director. “This would take money out of the pockets of barbers and cosmetologists, or their customers if these new costs are passed along, simply for the sake of ‘leveling the playing field.’ A field, that on closer inspection, doesn’t appear to be unlevel at all.”
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For more than 75 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
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