Senate BillIntroduced
S 5839: Requires domestic violence and sexual assault awareness training for the licensing of nail specialty, natural hair styling, esthetics and cosmetology.
What S 5839 does, verified January 9, 2026
The bill aims to require domestic violence and sexual assault awareness training for professionals in the beauty and wellness industry, including nail technicians, natural hair stylists, estheticians, and cosmetologists. The training must be at least one hour long and available in the top ten languages spoken in the state, excluding English. The training courses will be developed in consultation with organizations that specialize in domestic violence and sexual assault prevention. The training will be made available through the state's website, and its purpose is to educate professionals on how to recognize and respond to domestic violence and sexual assault cases. The training will be required for licensees and applicants, and it will take effect after the bill has been in law for 180 days.
Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION (2026-01-07)Alert me
Quick answers about S 5839
- What is the current status of S 5839?
- As of January 9, 2026, S 5839 is recorded as "Introduced": it has been introduced and is waiting for its first committee hearing or floor vote. The last recorded action, on January 7, 2026, was "REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION".
- Did S 5839 pass?
- Not yet. S 5839 has been introduced and has not passed either house.
- Who wrote S 5839, and where is it now?
- S 5839 was authored by Sen. James Skoufis. Its committee of record is Assembly Consumer Affairs & Protection.
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions2 total · showing 2
| Jan. 07, 2026 | REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION |
| Mar. 03, 2025 | REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, March 3, 2025 · 356 words
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5839 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 3, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring domestic violence and sexual assault awareness training for the licensing of nail specialty, natural hair styling, esthetics and cosmetology The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 408-b of the general business law, as amended by 2 chapter 71 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 408-b. Domestic violence and sexual assault awareness education. The 4 department shall [ensure that] require at least one hour of domestic 5 violence and sexual assault awareness education courses [are made avail-6able to] for all licensees and applicants for a license or renewal 7 pursuant to this article and that such courses are made available and 8 are offered through the department's website. Such courses shall be 9 available in each of the top ten languages spoken in the state, other 10 than English, according to the latest available data from the United 11 States Census Bureau. The department, in consultation with the office 12 for the prevention of domestic violence and advocacy groups recognized 13 by the federal department of health and human services or the federal 14 department of justice, which have the ability to coordinate statewide 15 and with local communities on programming and educational materials 16 related to the prevention and intervention of domestic violence or sexu- 17 al assault in New York state, shall develop and provide access to domes- 18 tic violence and sexual assault awareness education courses appropriate 19 for those licensed under this article. 20 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 21 it shall have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09198-01-5
Text of S 5839 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions