Senate Bill 607 - Regulatory Reform Act of 2024

• Exempts barber/cosmetologist employees limited to shampooing or blow-drying hair from licensure requirements, and allows persons employed in cosmetic art shops with the same duties to be exempt.

• Increases massage and bodywork therapist training requirements from minimum 500 to 650 in-class hours, effective July 1, 2024.

• Repeals residency requirement for electrologist licensure and allows non-residents to practice if they provide proof of one year prior practice in unlicensed states.

• Increases criminal penalties to Class C felony with $250,000 mandatory fines for damaging critical infrastructure including public water supplies, wastewater treatment facilities, and manufacturing facilities; creates new statute for manufacturing facility damage.

• Prohibits adversarial foreign governments from acquiring quartz mining operations or lands containing high purity quartz in North Carolina; allows North Carolina Railroad Board restructuring with Commissioner of Agriculture replacing one governor appointee.