Special Interest to Control CA Massage

The current proposed CA massage law, SB 412, has many flaws and inequities. Read the previous blogs on this site: Massage Therapist, Masseuse, or Whore --Take Your Pick; An Open Letter on Massage to CA State Sen. Figueroa; When an Angel Whispers & You Hear the Devil; and Angel Responds. Also checkout Ramblemeuse and The Flammia Touch.

The essence of the proposed CA law on massage is to set-up a state sanctioned governing board which will be responsible to license massage therapists and generally administer the provisions of the law. Here’s another problem. The existing language in the law provides for special interest groups to control the “Massage Therapy Organization” and there is no provision for representation for the multitudes of CA massage therapists who do not belong to the currently existing organizations. Here’s the language as of 08/15/2005:

SB 412 Massage Therapy Organization

4600.5. (a) A Massage Therapy Organization, as defined insubdivision (f) of Section 4600, shall be created and shall have theresponsibilities and duties set forth in this chapter. Theorganization may take any reasonable actions, including hiring staffor entering into contracts, to carry out the responsibilities andduties set forth in this chapter. (b) (1) The organization shall be governed by a board of directorsmade up of at least one representative tworepresentatives from each professional society, association, orother entity, whose membership is comprised of massage therapists,that chooses to participate in the organization. To qualify, aprofessional society, association, or other entity must have amembership in California of at least 1,000 individuals for the lastthree years, and have bylaws that require its members to comply witha code of ethics. In addition, the board of directors shall include aperson selected by the League of California Cities, a personselected by the California State Association of Counties, and aperson selected by the Bureau Chief of the Bureau for PrivatePostsecondary Vocational Education, unless these entities choose notto exercise this right of selection. The organization's bylaws shallestablish a process by which any other directors may be selected. (2) The initial board of directors shall establish theorganization, initiate the request for tax-exempt status from theInternal Revenue Service, and solicit input from the massagecommunity concerning the operations of the organization. The initialboard of directors, in its discretion, may immediately undertake toissue the certificates authorized by this chapter after adopting thenecessary bylaws or other rules, or may establish by adoption ofbylaws the permanent governing structure prior to issuingcertificates. (c) The board of
directors shall establish fees reasonably relatedto the cost of providing services and carrying out its ongoingresponsibilities and duties. Initial and renewal fees shall beestablished by the board of directors annually.

The bottom line is that only those organizations containing 1,000 individuals are eligible, and the organization must have been in existence for 3 years. No chance of forming a new organization to represent the currently unaffiliated.

Talk about gerrymandering!! That means that the currently unaffiliated massage therapists will never be represented unless they knuckle-down and join one of the existing industry organizations. On the other side of the coin, many of the unaffiliated massage therapists will not be eligible to join at least one of those organizations because they do not possess the prerequisite number of training hours to be a member of the organization.

The current configuration of SB 412 is unfair and does not provide representation for a large contingent of Ca massage therapists. SB 412 is a special interest bill specifically benefiting the special interest groups. This bill does not deserve to be enacted.