California Assembly Bill 1822 Update

AB 1822, sponsored by Assemblyman Swanson, passed out of the Assembly Committee on Business, Professions, and Consumer Protection on April 20, 2010, with a vote of 8 for and 3 against. This was the first of several committee hearings the bill will have to pass in order to become law. The bill has been assigned to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The bill language was amended on April 13, 2010, prior to the vote, but the new language accomplishes essentially the same thing. If passed into law, the bill would circumvent the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) authority and return licensing authority to local jurisdictions. The bill spells out that:

• Until January 16, 2016, any person who administers massage for compensation must be either certified by the CAMTC or certified, registered, or licensed by a city, county, or city and county.
• A city, county, or city and county are authorized to require any person who administers massage or who owns a massage establishment or business to hold a business license or massage establishment permit or both.
• Two members would be added to the board of directors of the CAMTC and would be selected by specified peace officer associations.
• The governing body of a city, county, or both, along with agreement from the head of local law enforcement, may elect to take over the licensing of massage therapists from the CAMTC. In this case, the bill would invalidate the preemption of local licensing if a massage therapist is CAMTC certified.

Existing law prohibits a city, county, or city and county from enacting an ordinance that requires a massage therapist who is currently certified by the CAMTC to obtain any other license, permit, or other authorization to engage in the practice of massage. It is the primary benefit to becoming CAMTC certified. ABMP remains opposed to the bill. It is irresponsible to essentially repeal a law that hasn’t even been fully implemented. The formation of the CAMTC took thousands of volunteer hours and was at significant expense. The members of the CAMTC have worked to create a certification process which, while not perfect, has integrity. The CAMTC process has rejected applicants who were previously licensed by municipalities. The process is working and needs the opportunity to be fully implemented. Contact members on the Assembly Appropriations Committee and ask them to vote “no” on AB 1822. http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/newcomframeset.asp?committee=43