COLUMBIA, S.C. — After many of South Carolina’s retail stores were given the green light to open April 20, there was a new push on Monday to allow hair salons the same freedoms.
“To tell them that we’re going to leave the big box chain stores wide open and that you can stand in a line with 20 to 30 people in one of those places, but you can’t go get your hair done one-on-one or your nails, is completely ... it makes no sense,” said South Carolina Representative, Stewart Jones (R-Laurens).
Jones says he felt compelled to fight for hairstylists and salon owners after a petition, started by local stylist Amy Howie, went viral — receiving more than 500,000 signatures.
The petition asked Governor McMaster to “allow a licensed beauty professional to perform a beauty service/ privately with one client in the salon / per stylist at a time starting as of Monday, April 27, 2020.”
So Monday, Jones held a press conference on the steps of the state capital in Columbia, announcing plans to bring the signed petitions straight to the governor’s desk.
“They don’t want to ask the government for any assistance, they want their freedom, they want to be able to run their business and run their lives,” said Jones.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has said previously that he and his team looked at the hotspots, where they thought the contagion had the best chance of spreading and that’s where they targeted their limitations.
Health experts argue that it is impossible to safely social distance in a salon or barbershop setting.
McMaster, who was attending an Accelerate SC meeting Monday, has not issued a response to Jones.
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