South Dakota Compromise

Almost two years after a licensing law swiftly passed through the South Dakota legislature, the state's massage therapists were still waiting for the law to go into effect after disagreements over some of its provisions threatened its repeal.

In February, it appeared compromise had finally been reached.

According to the South Dakota legislative tracker, Senate Bill 70, which sought to amend the most contentious provisions of the massage-licensure law, had passed through the House Commerce committee, clearing the way for its acceptance.

At issue were a handful of requirements in the original law, including that candidates for massage-therapy licensure must carry malpractice insurance, and that they have passed the National Certification Exam for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCETMB). In addition, massage therapists had complained that the license and renewal fees of $300 were too high, and that the continuing-education requirement of 16 hours every two years was too much.

An amendment, seen as a last resort before issuing the law's repeal, modified these provisions by lowering licensure and renewal fees to $65, removing the NCETMB requirement in favor of an exam "approved by the [massage] board," and changing the requirement of malpractice insurance to professional-liability insurance. In addition, licenses will be good for one year instead of two; the continuing-education requirement dropped to eight CEUs over two years, four of which may be electronic; and a grandfathering period, which was supposed to end in July, has been extended to June 30, 2008.