Topeka — Gov. Sam Brownback on Friday vetoed an obscure bill changing state rules for barbers, saying he wants to send a clear message that Kansas won't needlessly burden free enterprise.
The administrator for the state Board of Barbering, which sought the legislation, was disappointed. One Democratic critic of the Republican governor called the veto "rather bizarre," and another noted the governor's support for additional regulations for abortion clinics, suggesting Brownback's policy was "pro-business if it's the kind of business we like."
The bill Brownback vetoed would have required ex-barbers and former barber-school instructors to take a licensing exam again if they'd been out of the business for two years. Current law allows a three-year gap, and the board said the change would promote public safety by making sure people returning to those professions still had strong skills.
The measure also codified two fees the board has been charging and made technical changes designed to beef up the board's power to enforce its regulations. The bill cleared both chambers of the GOP-controlled Legislature last month by wide margins and with bipartisan support.
But the Republican governor's veto called the bill "a clear example of the steady growth of state power over economic activity."
"I intend not only to prevent this small increase of government interference in the marketplace, but also to send the clear message that Kansas will not accept unnecessary government burdens on the free market," he wrote in his veto message.
Kansas governors occasionally use vetoes of obscure bills to make larger philosophical points, though sometimes lawmakers find their explanations baffling. For example, in 1991, Democratic Gov. Joan Finney vetoed a bill creating a Kansas Sheep Commission, complaining about how it was structured.
"These are what we would call rats and cats bills," said House Minority Leader Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat, who found the veto bizarre. "Perhaps he sees barbers as the key to our great economic success."
Peter Brownlie, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, saw some irony in Brownback's statements, noting the governor's support for regulations for abortion providers, such as Brownlie's group, which are now tied up in litigation.
"Maybe we'll just set up a barber's chair in our reception area," he said. "We are pro-business if it's the kind of business we like."
For the Board of Barbering, the issue was protecting public safety and health, said Administrator Bob Zook. Last year, seven people sought to return to barbering or to resume working as instructors after having spent between two and three years away from those jobs.
The five-member board, with a budget of about $166,000, regulates between 1,600 and 1,700 barbers and five barbering schools, with a sixth in Kansas City, Kan., awaiting a pre-opening inspection.
"We've got people who are working with sharp instruments — sharp clippers, sharp scissors and straight razors," he said. "There is also the possibility of the spread of skin disease or head lice."
But Brownback said he is guarding against excessive fees, regulation and barriers to entry for businesses so that Kansans' ingenuity and resourcefulness can take hold.
"It is time to take the parking brake off of the dynamic economic engine that is the Kansas spirit, which if unleashed, will generate growth and prosperity for all," he wrote in his veto message.
Comments
sad_lawrencian 1 year, 1 month ago
Impeach Brownback!
Orwell 1 year, 1 month ago
Whoever cuts Sam's hair obviously never had to demonstrate any skill.
Next up:
Free-market surgeons! Yippee-ki-yay!
Jayhawk1958 1 year, 1 month ago
Kansas-The laughing stock of the nation.
Jayhawk1958 1 year, 1 month ago
Saw a sign once at a CU/KU basketball game in Boulder: "You live in Kansas!"
Cant_have_it_both_ways 1 year, 1 month ago
The five-member board, with a budget of about $166,000, regulates between 1,600 and 1,700 barbers and five barbering schools, with a sixth in Kansas City, Kan., awaiting a pre-opening inspection +++++++++++++++++++++++ Get rid of this board and let the free market dictate who stays and who goes.
Bob_Keeshan 1 year, 1 month ago
Yeah, and get rid of restaurant inspectors while you're at it. And those nasty folks who keep gas station pumps from exploding when I fill up? Let the free market decide!
TheSychophant 1 year, 1 month ago
Let's not stop at the state level. Lets do away with the whole damned federal bureaucry. USDA? Meh!! Who needs meat inspectors. After all, wasn't Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" technically a work of fiction?.
Let "Caveat Emptor" rule. If you're too lazy to inspect the meat for bugs, that's your own damn fault. And if you are worried about tiny deadly microorganisms, buy a fricking microscope.
FREE THE MARKET! FREE THE MARKET! FREE THE MARKET!
Markets are people too, you know.
Fossick 1 year, 1 month ago
I suspect it has something to do with a fact not mentioned in the article. As Zook said in his testimony: (from a source)
The purpose of this [new "Chair Lease"] license is to address a situation which was created several years ago when barbershops began to offer chair space in their establishments to barbers under a lease arrangement. Under this business arrangement the barber is an independent contractor responsible for their own withholding taxes and setting their own chair hours.... http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/committees/misc/ctte_h_gen_govt_bdgt_1_20120314_03_other.pdf
The chair lease license had nothing to do with health or safety - the "shop" would still be responsible for making sure the environment was clean. But it could have reduced the ability of new barbers to "break in" by forcing them to either open their own shops completely or by getting someone else to hire them. Just a guess.
Bob_Keeshan 1 year, 1 month ago
Maybe Il Marrone should read the bills before he vetoes them.
The chair license already exists, but it exists in regulation and not in statute according to the document Fossick linked to. That document also says the goal of the bill is to be more efficient, to remove regulations, and to reduce the fees collected by the Barbering board by $2,000.
But Il Marrone says he is guarding against extra fees. This bill actually reduces fees. Il Marrone says he is against regulatory burdens, but this bill reduces regulatory burdens and he vetoed it.
Which is worse -- vetoing this bill under the guise of the "free market", or backing up that principle by making false claims about what the bill does? Why does Il Marrone have to lie in order to shore up his arguments?
pace 1 year, 1 month ago
I hate saying this, but I don't see a big difference between a two or three year or 5 year hiatus. As long as clean and safe is a standard. I barely understand why barbers aren't grouped with hair dressers.
toe 1 year, 1 month ago
Good move on the Governor. Business has used government to control competition since this nation was founded. The losers have been the consumer. I don't need a nanny to pick my barber.
overthemoon 1 year, 1 month ago
Well, given the wide range for opportunities for innovation in men's hairstyling, I'd sure hate to see it curtailed. Or duck tailed. Just what 'innovation' is hampered by letting someone who's let his/her license expire being required to 'brush up' on their skills? Seems like it would actually give them the latest info in order to be 'innovative' ??
Bushloather1 1 year, 1 month ago
But does he support the the hair braiders at bonner springs Ren Fest?
overthemoon 1 year, 1 month ago
That's the cosmetologists, not the barbers!
overthemoon 1 year, 1 month ago
It would be interesting for the article to note what fees are required for testing/re-licensing. Is this really a 'burden'? If the Barber Association feels its important, could they offer a payment plan for those who find it onerous?
TheSychophant 1 year, 1 month ago
From Kansas Statutes Annotated: "There is hereby created the Kansas board of barbering which board shall be composed of five members to be appointed by the governor. Four members of the board shall be barbers and one member of the board shall represent the general public. Each member of the board, except the members who are appointed to represent the general public, shall have had experience as a practical barber for at least five years immediately prior to appointment."
Four experienced professional barbers and a layperson all appointed by the elected Governor of the State of Kansas thought the new regulation was a good idea yet Brownback vetoes it. Funny, but I didn't know Brownback graduated from barber school, nor was I aware of his appointment as "Head Kansas Barber."
I wonder how many of the board members are Brownback appointees?
Brownback--an unreconstituted jackass whose actions continue to amaze me.
jafs 1 year, 1 month ago
He overrode not only that board, but also bipartisan approval of the bill in the legislature.
jaywalker 1 year, 1 month ago
Are you freakin' kiddin' me? The only time this might have been "news" was at the advent of the printing press. This is nothing more than a TMZ move by the LJW and it's pathetic. Anything w/ Brownback in the headline brings out reflexive response. I can't wait for the next installment, most likely titled:
'Brownback wipes his ass with inordinate amount of toilet paper'
I don't follow the Governor 'cuz I don't reside in Oz any longer and he might be as big a jackass as Lawrence contends, but for a news organization to continually pander like this is unbelievably cheap and pathetic. I'm thoroughly disgusted. So much for real journalism.
TheSychophant 1 year, 1 month ago
From the above story:
But the Republican governor's veto called the bill "a clear example of the steady growth of state power over economic activity."
"I intend not only to prevent this small increase of government interference in the marketplace, but also to send the clear message that Kansas will not accept unnecessary government burdens on the free market," he wrote in his veto message.
BS, jaywalker. the press didn't make this news. The Governor did, by overruling a board of qualified professionals in order to make a public political and ideological pronouncement.
And your hygiene analogy is off.
Instead of "Brownback wipes his ass with inordinate amount of toilet paper" it should read:
In a press release issued by the Governor's Office, Sam Brownback proclaimed that he wipes at least four times after defecating, explaining that "there is nothing worse in life than a stinky butt."
pace 1 year, 1 month ago
It should read Governor rides hard on another board or department, plan is to destroy the existing structure and put in his own people, maybe to include a guy from Florida.
beatrice 1 year, 1 month ago
jay, are you saying the newspaper should ignore a governor's veto? Sorry, but governors generally don't veto that many bills, especially when the governor and legislature are of the same party, and when they do it is news. Your logic doesn't quite cut it.
get it? "cut" it? ...
oh, nevermind.
Alex Parker 1 year, 1 month ago
This story was written by the Associated Press.
kansasfaithful 1 year, 1 month ago
Thank you, governor, I couldn't agree with you more. Sharp instruments, clippers, razors. How long until they say I can't use my kitchen. 2 years off the job and a barber may be a bit rusty, but this is for his customer to decide. No more regulations, go to work and make a living. Thanks again Browne.
Phillbert 1 year, 1 month ago
Yes, you're exactly right, the Republican-dominated Kansas Legislature will next tell you that you can't use knives in your kitchen.
While you're in your kitchen, perhaps you should add an extra layer to your tinfoil hat.
Joe Hyde 1 year, 1 month ago
I doubt whether an experienced, trained barber who's been out of the profession for three years would give anyone a poorer haircut, or be any less regulation-compliant, than a barber who's been out of the profession for two years.
Besides, Gov. Brownback's scalp probably has 50,000 more active hair follicles than what my scalp's got. So if he's not worried about this issue then I'm not, either.
TheSychophant 1 year, 1 month ago
Actually, and contrary to your faux infested belief system, goverment regulation, like life, is not that simple. There are some good regulations and some bad regulations. Are you suggesting that with do away with government inspection of meat, for example, or licensing of attorneys, doctors, and other professionals.
Hey, if you got a few knifes and a steady hand, shouldn't three guys be able to hang out a shingle that reads:
Cheatum, Billam, and Killum --Barbers --Butchers --General Surgeons
Walk-ins welcome.
The problem with many republicans is that for them, goverment regulations are bad if they don't like the regulation, and good if they favor the regulation.
jafs 1 year, 1 month ago
Except, of course, that this is an example of bipartisan approved legislation that was in fact vetoed by the governor.
So, this is an example of "anti-regulation" thinking from the governor.
bluekansas 1 year, 1 month ago
Government cuts fuel Kansas job loss State count drops 5,700 in a month, among the worst in the country Heavy cuts in state government jobs factored into the loss of 5,700 jobs in Kansas from January to February.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/03/30/3525134/government-job-cuts-fuel-kansas.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
nmdude 1 year, 1 month ago
this is a perfect example of how desolate our economy has become.
Jayhawk1958 1 year, 1 month ago
No License = More Lawsuits?
OonlyBonly 1 year, 1 month ago
"It is time to take the parking brake off of the dynamic economic engine that is the Kansas spirit, which if unleashed, will generate growth and prosperity for all," he wrote in his veto message. About time - too bad legislators didn't get the message. It's just a little change with long term consequences - and more money and necessary personnel through the Board of Barbering.....
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