As hair stylists we are trained in sanitation and keeping our tools and work stations clean. We need to be able to provide for ourselves and our family's.

This is important because we need to make a living just like anyone else. This is our livelihood and our customers are anxious to get back in. This isolation has been stressful and a lot of our patrons use our services as a form of therapy.

Tattoo and body art professionals are trying to survive. These entrepreneurs are trained and skilled professionals who adhere to strict guidelines provided by the Board of Health and should be afforded the right to generate income. Our state is an anchor for many entrepreneurs to provide a home, safety, and nutritious food for their families, which is now being threatened by regulations that disproportionality impact tattoo artists and body art professionals. Poverty is a well known contributor to raise violence, addiction, homelessness, mental illness, and suicide. Continuing to restrict tattoo artists and body art professionals from generating income threatens the foundation of our community that has made great strides in reducing poverty, homelessness, and mental illness. Tattoo artists and body art professionals need to safely reopen their doors for business to allow Indiana to continue to make strides. Eric Holcomb proudly said "Indiana is ushering in an era of record job commitments, record infrastructure investments, and new career training opportunities, all while tackling our biggest issues head-on." Putting people first means allowing small shops and entrepreneurs to exercise their right to practice safely, which keeps Indiana as a leader in community growth.

Cigar stores in Dallas County are closed because the businesses are considered non essential. Like liquor, tobacco is a product people have legally used and enjoyed since before the founding of this Country. Curb side is safe for food and liquor, why not tobacco? It is nuance without a difference. When I see 80 cars at Loews and 50 cars at major liquor stores what is the impact of 1 or 2 cars at the cigar store? It is safer! Allowing a customer to order ahead and pick up on a couple of cigars at curb side at a Cigar store is safer than it is to go through the drive through at McDonalds.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. America was built by the small business man. We, as business owners, are losing everything we have worked so hard for. We cannot continue to to wait. The bars were the first businesses to have to close. We should be allowed to reopen by May 1st.

Ever since COVID-19 it has been affecting us in major ways and forcing people to make tough decisions for their families. We are going through financial hardship. We were promised bail outs through small business loans or grants yet the government has made the stipulations on these grants nearly impossible for our type of business to qualify for the loan to become a grant.not to mention there is no money left for these grants, and a large percentage of the grants went to large businesses and not small businesses. Most tattoo shops, if not all tattoo shops, have been/ will be denied . We have no help when we have been promised help. We are still waiting for an application for independent contractor unemployment. Most of us have gone without making any money for 4 weeks or more. And are looking at another 2 weeks for an unemployment application. Then another 2 to 4 weeks for payment of any kind. The Quarantine was implemented to flatten the curve of the spread of COVID-19 to assure that hospitals were not overwhelmed all the once in to help prevent such a rapid spread . The numbers of infected people is on the decline . We tattoo artists are trained and certified in blood-borne pathogen‘s and cross-contamination as well as many other medical safety and sterility procedures we are just as safe if not safer than most hospitals. tattoo shops are very clean and we take this very serious. This is our livelihood and if we do not return back to work by May 1st many Tattoo businesses will be lost as well as Barbershops, Beauty Salons ,and Groomers among many others. We will not be able to pay our bills, rents/mortgages, Insurances, we have the very potentially of losing everything. We still have to pay our mortgages/ rents and phone bills and gas and electric none of this has stopped for us . Yes, we can postpone them, but they’re not going away! "Some" of us can sustain for a while, but most can't. That doesn’t mean that we are doing OK Governor Wolfe. This is how we pay our bills. This is how we feed our families and we are not getting any help from anyone, nor are we asking for it. We just want to be allowed to return to work, and be able to sustain ourselves. Pennsylvania Tattoo Artist

We are able to safely implement precautionary procedures to allow our clients to see us as they’re requesting. This will allow us to save our businesses. With zero income and expenses still coming in most of us can not survive another month.

As health and fitness professionals as well as small business owners, we want to make sure that when we begin our work again, we do so in a way that protects the health and safety of our members and community. We have developed a white paper that spells out what we think are best practices and standards for the fitness industry to reopen and operate safely and effectively. Our gyms allow us to engage in these powerful preventative measures in a manner that is far safer than any grocery store, bakery, liquor store, retail outlet, or gas station; all of which are still operating as "essential" businesses. Not to mention, other “gyms” cannot do what we do as we have hundreds of members, whereas they have thousands. Not to mention, when our clients are healthier, they are more readily able to fight disease!

The survival of the independent beauty professionals is at risk. We are facing a grave financial hardship.

Pets are considered family members to their owners and getting regular grooming is essential to their health and wellness. In some cases, Fluffy being well groomed is mandatory for their owners health as well. For example, some older client's require their dog's nails to be kept short and filed to keep them from tearing those who have thinning skin or have a harder time healing from scratches and cuts. There's also the service dogs and Emotional support animals that might require grooming. Plus grooming salons have sanitary protocols in place to keep every owner and pet safe. Besides, how can beer/liquor/wine be essential and not pet grooming? Help us pet groomers have a reason to need that glass of wine at the end of a 14 dog day! We WANT to be as essential as a 6 pack of Shiner Bock!

Covid 19 is affecting the economy in major ways and forcing people to make tough decisions for their families based upon recent events and work displacement. To ease the economic burden in our industry it is in our best interest to open back up with these limited restrictions. Moreover the quarantine was implemented to flatten the curve of the spread of covid 19 to ensure that hospitals were not overwhelmed all at once and to help prevent such rapid spread. The number of people infected is currently on a decline and the numbers aren’t as bad as once projected. Additionally Tattoo artist are trained and certified in blood borne pathogens and cross contamination as well as many other medical safety and sterility procedures.

Cosmetologist, manicurist, Massage’s therapist and esthetician’s have no income and need to work! The survival of the independent beauty professionals is at risk. We are facing a grave financial hardship.