California Massage Bill Stalled for 2007

A bill before the California legislature to provide consistent certification and regulation for the state’s massage therapists failed to make it out of committee for a final vote before the Assembly, killing its chances to pass in 2007.

The bill, sponsored by the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), would allow California massage therapists to become certified through the state. Once certified, therapists would be free to practice anywhere in California without having to acquire additional permits from the myriad local agencies that currently regulate massage in the state.

Although the bill, SB 731, passed the Senate, it remained stalled in the Assembly Appropriations Committee when the regular legislative session ended in August. However, the bill’s failure had nothing to do with its subject matter; instead, political infighting over the state budget caused a legislative impasse, leaving it shelved until at least 2008.

“The positive side is that the bill was not defeated on its merits,” says Bob Benson, chairman of the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP). “It’s not as though we made the arguments, and they were insufficiently persuasive.”

While another bill will have to be launched in 2008 for state-regulated massage to become reality, there may be ways to accelerate the process. Because SB 731 was not actually defeated, it can be attached to another bill, allowing it to skip some of the initial legislative hurdles.

“There’s a good chance we could use what’s called a ‘gutted bill,’ says Beverly May, co-chair of government relations for the AMTA-California chapter. “These are bills that are pulled before they die, so they stay active and can be brought back later in a new form without having to go through all of the same processes over again.”

May also believes that because the bill has already made it so far—and with little opposition—once the legislation is reintroduced, it should proceed smoothly.

“The bill made it a long way through the legislative process,” says May. “And PTs are the only opposition, but they haven’t put up a strong fight. So even if we have to start all over… we expect things to move fairly quickly.”

—Chris Towery, Massage Magazine associate editor