The House Regulations Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity Committee approved a set of agency regulation updates during a committee meeting, voting unanimously on multiple documents that revise technical language, continuing-education rules and practice limits across several licensure boards.

The measures, each approved by a 7-0 roll call, include a scrivener's correction at the State Board of Pharmacy, streamlined continuing-education approvals for opticians, new disciplinary and event rules for the State Athletic Commission, updated suicide-prevention training requirements for social workers and counselors, expanded endorsement pathways for out-of-state cosmetology applicants, and revised sanitation and scope rules for aestheticians.

Why it matters: most changes are technical or procedural but affect professional licensing, scope of practice, and public-safety or consumer-protection details. Several items implement statutory changes from the 2024 Legislature, clarify what licensed practitioners may perform, or adjust board review processes that affect thousands of licensees.

Committee action and highlights

- Pharmacy: Document 5339 (State Board of Pharmacy) corrected a cross-reference error, replacing an incorrect reference to a "manufacturer's permit" with the correct term "wholesale distributor permit." The subcommittee recommended approval; the full committee approved the regulation 7-0.

- Opticianry: Document 5272 (South Carolina Board of Examiners in Opticianry) removed outdated or duplicative provisions, simplified continuing-education (CE) approvals by deeming certain nationally approved technical courses acceptable without individual board approval, clarified that out-of-state law courses are not accepted, and allowed up to one hour of practice or retail-management CE. The committee approved the change 7-0.

- Athletic events: Document 5351 (State Athletic Commission) updates event rules after the commission's five-year review. The changes list unauthorized substances, set progressive disciplinary steps for positive drug tests (up to four offenses), tighten blood-testing and weight-class guidance, set fines for late permit applications, conform maximum age limits to statute, and prohibit contact lenses during fights. Bob Horner, attorney for the State Athletic Commission, told the committee that fighters sometimes arrive wearing contact lenses and that bouts have been canceled when lenses were discovered; Horner said, "Actually, it happens more than you would think it does...Promoters have promoted them as, you know, 10 fights, and and then all of a sudden now you've paid for 10 fights as an attendee, and now you're down to 9 fights because someone thought they could wear their contact lenses." The measure passed 7-0.

- Social work and counseling CE: Document 5301 (Board of Social Work) and Document 5354 (licensing provisions for professional counselors and marriage and family therapy associates) add a required hour of suicide assessment, treatment and management to existing continuing-education requirements to conform with Act 158 of 2024. The committee approved both regulations 7-0. The counselor regulation also clarifies a 60-graduate-hour minimum and adds an additional supervisor-certification pathway for marriage and family therapy supervisors.

- Reinstatement and scope updates: Document 5334 (Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors) clarifies reinstatement rules for lapsed licenses and adds addiction counselor supervisors to the regulation; the committee approved it 7-0.

- Engineering cross-reference: Document 5310 (Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors) corrects a regulatory cross-reference identified during agency review; approved 7-0.

- Cosmetology licensure for out-of-state applicants: Document 5307 eases endorsement for out-of-state cosmetology applicants by accepting certain out-of-state licenses if the applicant has held them in good standing for at least two years; the Board and LLR staff described this as a response to constituent requests near state borders. Holly Beason of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) summarized the intent: "Our goal is to ensure that if they're coming into practice in our state, that they are competent to do so just from a health and safety perspective. But we certainly don't want it to be burdensome to people moving in." Tracy Adams, the cosmetology board executive, told the committee the cosmetology family (cosmetologists, estheticians and nail technicians, including instructors) numbers about 42,000 licensees; the regulation passed 7-0.

- Building code enforcement CE reimbursement: Document 5306 allows reimbursement flexibility for code-enforcement officers by permitting reimbursement of up to 24 continuing-education credits within the two-year license period (rather than 12 per year); the change does not alter the total credits required and passed 7-0.

- Aesthetics and salon sanitation: Document 5276 (practice of aesthetics; sanitary and safety rules for salons and schools) updates the aesthetics regulation to expand and clarify permitted treatments, align some device limits with the Board of Medical Examiners, and refine sanitation rules. The regulation clarifies that certain medical devices remain limited to medical professionals and sets objective thresholds (for example, a depth limit for minor skin penetration and pH limits for chemical peels) so aestheticians' scope stops short of the practice of medicine. On laundering protective capes, the board clarified that capes need laundering after chemical services that could transfer residue but not after routine haircuts, a change intended to reduce unnecessary laundering. The committee approved the rule 7-0.

Votes at a glance

Each item below was approved by voice/roll call, outcome 7–0 unless noted.
- Document 5339 — State Board of Pharmacy — scrivener's correction; approved 7–0.
- Document 5272 — Board of Examiners in Opticianry — CE approval streamlining; approved 7–0.
- Document 5351 — State Athletic Commission — event and drug-testing rules, contact-lens prohibition; approved 7–0.
- Document 5301 — Board of Social Work — CE: suicide-assessment hour (Act 158 conforming); approved 7–0.
- Document 5354 — Counselor licensing — CE suicide hour, 60 graduate-hour clarification, supervisor pathway; approved 7–0.
- Document 5334 — Reinstatement rules for counselors, add addiction supervisor classification; approved 7–0.
- Document 5310 — Engineers and land surveyors — cross-reference correction; approved 7–0.
- Document 5307 — Cosmetology — out-of-state endorsement pathway; approved 7–0.
- Document 5306 — Building code enforcement CE reimbursement flexibility; approved 7–0.
- Document 5276 — Aesthetics and salon sanitation; approved 7–0.

What the committee did not do

No ordinance, statute or new policy was enacted by the committee; the actions are rulemaking approvals and clarifications driven by agency five-year reviews, statutory conformity with Act 158 (where noted), or board-requested updates. Where the transcript records public-safety or scope-of-practice boundaries (for example, the depth/pH limits in aesthetics or prohibition of contact lenses at fights), the committee approved the boards' drafted regulatory language.

What's next

Each approved regulation will be processed according to the standard administrative procedures for rule adoption in South Carolina. Several items were specifically described as conforming to recent statute or implementing board-requested updates; any affected licensees will receive notice through their licensing boards and LLR communications.

Ending note

Committee members asked clarifying operational questions on multiple items (for example, about life coaches vs. licensed counselors, temporary licensure practices, and how capes are handled for sanitation). Staff and board counsel provided the clarifications recorded above; no measure was tabled or amended in committee.