In 2008, we took an important step towards creating statewide recognition of massage therapy as a professional healing art. With the passage of Senate Bill 731, the creation of the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC), and the establishment of voluntary certification, massage therapists got a step closer to fair, consistent regulation in California.

Now, at the urging of the California Police Chiefs Association (CPCA), Assembly Member Sandré Swanson has introduced Assembly Bill 1822 into the legislature.

 

If AB 1822 becomes law:

 

In summary, under AB 1822, a CAMTC certificate would be rendered meaningless after December 31, 2015. And the CAMTC would go broke and fold long before that, because massage therapists would not want to certify if they were just going to have to start paying for local permits again in a few years.

 

The bad news: AB 1822 passed the Assembly Business, Professions, and Consumer Protection Committee on April 20, 2010. Assembly Member Swanson has a laudable record fighting human trafficking, and he has been persuaded that local law enforcement checks on massage therapists would reduce human trafficking. (One might well ask how that system has been working out so far!) The good news: Testimony by AMTA-CA, the CAMTC, and other organizations at the BPCP Committee hearing went well. We made it clear that Assembly Member Swanson and the CPCA are going to have to work very hard to continue to present this as a human trafficking issue. We have many more chances coming to oppose the bill.

 

 

 

 

The bill’s next hearing will be in the Appropriations Committee, whose members can be found here. The AMTA-CA will let its members know when the time comes to start writing letters to the Committee members. If you are not an AMTA-CA member, ask your association to do the same.

 

Inform your colleagues about this issue. Inform local massage schools about this issue. Inform your clients about this issue. If you didn’t look up your legislators before, look them up now and get ready to write some concise, hard-hitting letters!

 

 

If you belong to another professional association or insurance provider, or know people who do, urge them to follow AMTA-CA’s example. SB 731 only got passed because massage therapists across the state presented a united front. This is a very costly, very time-consuming effort, and we need all the help we can get. Legislators get their information from lobbyists, and the more lobbyists we have presenting our viewpoint, the better.