California

A sunset review is a periodic assessment of state regulatory programs to determine whether or not they should be continued by the legislature. In 2008 the state legislature provided for the creation of a private, nonprofit corporation to issue voluntary certifications to qualified massage therapists. The California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) was established in February 2009. It is often compared to state regulatory agencies but it is not actually part of government.

Last fall we notified our California members that Senate Bill 1193, which added section 52.6 to the California Civil Code, would be requiring that massage establishments -- except those that employ only California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC)-certified therapists -- must conspicuously post written human trafficking notices. The law is now in effect. As a result,

California SB 1238 was signed into law by Governor Brown on September 27, 2012. The new law, which goes into effect on January 1, 2013, amends California’s voluntary massage certification statute in several ways.

As anticipated, Senate Bill 1193 was signed into law by Governor Brown on September 24, 2012. Under the new law, certain types of businesses in California, including establishments offering massage or bodywork services for compensation, must “conspicuously” post a written human trafficking notice which includes contact information for two human trafficking hotlines.

California Senate Bill 1193, sponsored by Senator Steinberg, has passed by a vote of 5-2 in the Senate Appropriations Committee. If approved by the Assembly and Governor Brown, the bill will require that all massage businesses post a notice near the public entrance to the business containing certain information regarding human trafficking, including the contact information for human trafficking hotlines.

At its meeting on February 15, 2012, the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) voted to eliminate the National Exam for State Licensing (NESL), offered by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, and  the Massage and Bodywork Licensing Exam (MBLEx) offered by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB) from the list of approved exams for the Portable G pathway to CAMTC certification. Applicants will only be able to apply for CAMTC certification by becoming certified by NCBTMB if applying by Portal G.

After January 1, 2012 you will need proof of at least 250 hours of massage education in order to apply for statewide certification. Between now and the end of the year you can still apply with only 100 hours or by taking an exam*. More and more cities, counties, employers and clients are requiring CAMTC's certification, so you do not want to miss the deadline for this opportunity to get certified.

• You will have the freedom to practice anywhere in California without the need to obtain local massage permits from cities or counties where you provide massage.

On August 1, 2011, Governor Brown signed into law the ABMP-supported Assembly Bill 619 that makes some changes to the existing voluntary certification statute. These changes, mostly technical in nature, do not change the rules on how you can obtain your statewide certification, which allows you to practice massage therapy anywhere in California without worrying about compliance with local massage therapy laws. The changes made by AB 619 include:

Assembly Bill 619 seeks technical changes to the existing law. In 2008, Senate Bill 731 (Oropeza, Chapter 384) was passed and created a statewide voluntary certification program for massage professionals and a non-profit massage therapy organization to administer the program. The primary benefit of its passage was to provide massage therapists some financial relief from restrictive and discriminatory local ordinances and from having duplicative processes to practice in multiple locations.