Joanne Williams
Editor

(Joanne Williams/TCJ- Local veterans gathered to shed light on a bill that wold allow stylists to offer free hair cuts in veterans’ organizations, like the Charlotte VFW Post 2406.)

Editor’s Note: This story ran in the July 4 issue and contained errors which the editor regrets and has corrected.

What’s a person have to do to get a bill passed at the state level these days?

A number of people, including politicians from both sides of the aisle are asking this question, including veterans in the Charlotte area.

More than 15 veterans gathered at the VFW Post 2406 on June 30 to talk about two bills that have passed in the House but are sitting in the Senate bill queue.

It’s all about haircuts – free haircuts for veterans.

It sounds simple, but, due process is laborious, especially in this Legislative session, where, according to State Rep. Angela Witwer, “Seventeen bills have been signed into law this year, the lowest that has ever been” since the state became a state.

The bills have their roots in an act of kindness, when a local hair stylist visited the VFW and offered free haircuts. The next day, a representative from the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Office from the state (LARA) came to visit and explained the service could not be provided by a licensed cosmetologists outside of a licensed premises.

Okay, it’s the law.

Stylist Missy Smith of Salon 83 was still discouraged, until her daughter suggested she change the law. That was last March.

So, Peters, with the help of husband Bill and daughter Savannah proceeded to learn and work on getting a bill passed to allow for such services to be performed legally. It has become a passion for them and so many friends and supporters. Savannah mentioned the encouragement and counsel of the late Mike Ranville, a former political consultant.

“I just want to get back to cutting hair for veterans,” Missy said, not wanting to be in the spotlight.

The idea became two House bills, championed by Rep. Angela Witwer (D) and Rep. Angela Rigas (R), who just happens to be a hair stylist.

HB4394 and HB 4395 passed in the House and was “reported favorably without amendment by the Senate’s Committee on the Whole” this March. That has been the end of the momentum.

The reason for the bills is that barber services have to be “rendered in licensed premises,” according to state code. There are exceptions. If these bills pass, stylists could pay a $20 fee to get a license to provide services to a veteran at a veteran service organization.

Why not give veterans free haircuts in salons? Sure, that can happen and probably does, but the location is the reason for these bills.

“It would help provide a facility where most veterans would feel comfortable in,” said David Eddy, past commander of POST 2406.

Other veterans chimed in, citing benefits including accessibility, familiarity of surroundings, being with people they know and other considerations. “All people want to look good and feel good,” said one veteran.

Bill Smith pointed out that it would still be a choice for salon owners to follow their own shop policies. 

“We are honoring the vets’ dignity,” said Savannah.

The veterans want to let the Legislature know this is important to them. 

“I am very much in favor” of the bill, Witwer said, but added this is a “tough term” to get bills passed.

This bill could see a vote in the Senate. It is in the pipeline, with a few “priority” bills before it, Witwer said. If not, she is confident it will be passed by December.

“I think we can get them done,” she said.

If not, the Smiths and their supporters will have to start the process all over again.

“We just want to get this out in front of more people,” Eddy said. 

That’s what the democratic process is all about.