03/22/2011
Illinois’ Massage Licensing Act (Act) will sunset January 2012. Senator Iris Martinez is sponsoring a bill (SB 153) on behalf of the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation and the Massage Licensing Board to make several technical changes in the law as well as to extend the Act to January 2022. SB 153 was introduced on February 8, 2011 and ABMP is supportive of the bill as introduced on that date.
However, ABMP is opposed to Senate Amendment 002, which was filed on March 1, 2011. If passed, the amendment would increase the entry-level educational requirements for massage therapists from 500 hours to 750 hours. This increase would result in a significant increase in tuition costs for students, and would also make it very difficult for many massage therapists moving to Illinois to become licensed; the majority of states that license massage therapists recognize a 500-hour entry-level requirement.
Senate Amendment 002 was introduced with the support of the Massage Licensing Board. ABMP does not support the amendment; upon discussion with representatives of the Board and the American Massage Therapy Association Illinois Chapter, we were unable to learn of any circumstances that justified a change in the requirements to practice.
The purpose of licensing is to protect the public from untrained practitioners. This is accomplished by setting entry-level education standards and providing an avenue for consumer complaints. There is no evidence in Illinois, or in any other state, that 500 hours of education is not an acceptable entry-level standard.
Inconsistency in entry-level requirements among states has a negative impact on fellow massage therapists who happen to move. It is all too common for ABMP to receive calls from members who are moving to a state with higher entry-level requirements who cannot qualify for a license, regardless of how long they have been practicing. There have been many instances of members who have practiced massage safely on the public for five years who have been told to go back to school if they want to qualify for a license to practice. More often than not, they leave the profession instead of paying to relearn a profession they have practiced for years.
Lack of portability and consistency in licensing requirements has been a frustration among regulators and therapists alike for many years; advocating for a 50% increase in entry-level education hours for no reason related to public safety not only doesn’t help solve that challenge, it makes a solution that much less attainable. Portability will never be achieved if policy decisions made by regulatory boards and individuals are shaped by personal motivations to “advance” the profession through increasing hours instead of concentrating on the quality of education.
This proposal in essence, is an attempt to solve one problem (alleged unpreparedness of some licensing candidates) by creating another (requiring all students to spend 50% more time and money to practice).
ABMP is opposed to the change in entry-level education requirements and encourages schools and individuals to contact their legislator and ask them to defeat Senate Amendment 002.
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