The Florida State Massage Therapy Association (FSMTA) is working to defeat a bill that would allow the state’s massage-school graduates to practice massage therapy with a temporary license, before passing an entry-level exam.
If passed, HB 49 would go into effect in July 2011.
“This is a bad idea,” reads a call to action from the FSMTA’s Brevard Chapter. “Not all schools produce students who are … ready to practice the profession with reasonable skill and safety. This is evident because the statewide pass rate is between 50 and 60 percent. The licensing test was designed to ensure the public’s safety when receiving a massage. After you have read the bill, please contact your legislators and tell them this is a bad idea and that they should vote against the bill. Don’t let the massage therapy profession in Florida be compromised!”
MASSAGE Magazine will provide further coverage of this news as it progresses. Visit the Florida House of Representatives’ website at http://www.myfloridahouse.gov to read the bill in its entirety.