---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS - BARBERS AND HAIRDRESSERS (Reduces the number of hours of instruction required to obtain a hairdresser's and cosmetician's license from fifteen hundred (1,500) to twelve hundred (1,200) hours.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS - BARBERS AND HAIRDRESSERS (Reduces the number of hours of instruction required to obtain a hairdresser's and cosmetician's license from fifteen hundred (1,500) to twelve hundred (1,200) hours.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 5488"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5488 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Licenses", "Business & Professions"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Coughlin", "Johnston", "Keable"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2017-02-15"
last_action: "2017-07-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/82ada24b-6e97-41d4-a53c-4f7f90cc6459"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "ae303e6c38f5d18c65f3e8b6020be9ddc0e8ca393e8e83f34e61e1bd6874573c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5488 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS - BARBERS AND HAIRDRESSERS (Reduces the number of hours of instruction required to obtain a hairdresser's and cosmetician's license from fifteen hundred (1,500) to twelve hundred (1,200) hours.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5488** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/HouseText17/H5488.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **71–2** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Coughlin — primary (person)
- Johnston — primary (person)
- Keable — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-02-15** 02/15/2017 Introduced, referred to House Corporations `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-03-03** 03/03/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/07/2017)
- **2017-03-07** 03/07/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-03-24** 03/24/2017 Scheduled for consideration (03/28/2017)
- **2017-03-28** 03/28/2017 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-04-04** 04/04/2017 Placed on House Calendar (04/06/2017)
- **2017-04-06** 04/06/2017 House read and passed `passage`
- **2017-05-30** 05/30/2017 Referred to Senate Labor `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-09** 06/09/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (06/14/2017)
- **2017-06-14** 06/14/2017 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-22** 06/22/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/28/2017)
- **2017-06-28** 06/28/2017 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-07-05** 07/05/2017 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/82ada24b-6e97-41d4-a53c-4f7f90cc6459`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).