09/15/2016
For those of you who practice in Santa Cruz, we're happy to report that at its meeting on September 13, the Santa Cruz City Council decided to reconsider the proposed city ordinance regulating massage therapy. As reported in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the proposed regulations "were sent back to the drawing board" after "numerous professionals in the massage therapy field and their customers shared concerns that the new regulations could displace existing Santa Cruz massage therapy workers and businesses." Further, "City Attorney Tony Condotti said that, based on public feedback, he proposed that massage therapists applying for a grandfathering exemption from the new law's hours of training requirement, would have to demonstrate at least two years of continuous work in Santa Cruz, rather than 10. Additional proposed modifications are expected to expand the number of acceptable certified massage schools, eliminate baths in the definition of massage and put a cap on exemption requests of July 2018." We are pleased that the Council was open to the concerns of ABMP and local MT's, and is considering meaningful modifications to the proposal. Thank you to those members of the massage therapy community who got involved and had their voices heard.