AB 899

This bill requires an establishment or service providing massage therapy or

bodywork therapy to obtain a license granted by the Massage Therapy and Bodywork

Therapy Affiliated Credentialing Board, unless the establishment or service is

owned by or provided at one of the following: 1) a licensed massage therapist or

bodywork therapist; 2) a person who provides massage therapy or bodywork therapy

within the scope of a credential granted to the person by this state or the federal

government; or 3) a massage therapy or bodywork therapy school, health care or

nursing facility, school or other educational institution, spa, business with an on-site

wellness center, or establishment licensed to provide cosmetology, aesthetics,

electrology, manicuring, or barbering. Under the bill, the affiliated credentialing

board administers the licensure program and promulgates rules establishing the

requirements for the massage or bodywork therapy establishment license and the

standards for the professional conduct of persons granted a massage or bodywork

therapy establishment license. Additionally, a local ordinance, including an

ordinance enacted before the bill takes effect, that regulates the activity of a massage

therapy or bodywork therapy establishment or service that is licensed or exempt

from licensure under the bill may not be enforced against an establishment or service

that obtains a license or is exempt from licensure.

The bill also authorizes the practice of massage therapy or bodywork therapy

by a massage therapy or bodywork therapy extern or intern under the supervision

of a licensed massage therapist or bodywork therapist. The bill requires the

affiliated credentialing board to establish standards for that practice.

The bill also provides that the scope of the practice of massage therapy or

bodywork therapy, in addition to the activities specified under current law, includes

all of the following:

1. The application of kinesiology tape to the skin.

2. The provision of body spa services, as defined by the board by rule, including

the application of body wraps and scrubs.

3. Certain kinds of manual action, the majority of which are included under

current law, but under the bill, the manual action is performed without high velocity

or low amplitude thrusting.

The bill provides that the penalty for the unauthorized practice of massage

therapy or bodywork therapy is a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to 90

days or both. The bill also provides that the penalty for intentionally employing a

person to engage in the unauthorized practice of massage therapy or bodywork

therapy is a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment for up to nine months, or both, for

a first violation, and a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment for up to six years, or

both, for a subsequent violation within five years.