BILL ANALYSIS
SB 731
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Date of Hearing: July 18, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mark Leno, Chair
SB 731 (Oropeza) - As Amended: July 9, 2007
Policy Committee: Business and
Professions Vote: 7 - 1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill provides for certification of massage practitioners
and massage therapists by the Massage Therapy Organization
(MTO), which would be a nonprofit organization that meets
specified requirements. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires applicants for certification as massage practitioners
or massage therapists to:
a) Be 18 years of age or older.
b) Meet specified educational criteria.
c) Provide fingerprints for submission to the Department of
Justice (DOJ) for a criminal background check.
d) Pay fees required by the organization.
e) Pass an examination approved by the organization.
2)Requires certified massage therapists to have at least 500
hours of education and certified massage; practitioners must
have at least 250 hours. After December 31, 2013, certified
SB 731
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massage practitioners who are certified with less than 250
hours of education can renew their certificate but no new
massage practitioner certificates would be issued after that
date.
3)Allows the MTO to take specified disciplinary action against
certificate holders, and makes the violation of specified
provisions a misdemeanor.
4)Prohibits a city, county, or other local government from
enacting an ordinance regulating the practice of massage by a
certificate holder.
5)Subjects the MTO to review by the Joint Committee on Boards,
Commissions, and Consumer Protection, and requires the
organization to provide that committee with a related report
by September 1, 2012.
6)Sunsets January 1, 2014.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time costs of $80,000 to DOJ for fingerprint processing
and on-going costs until January 1, 2013 of approximately
$116,000, covered by fees to cover the cost of processing.
2)Minor nonreimbursable costs for local incarceration.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, cities and counties
currently set up their own requirements for the field of
massage and use similar practices as any small business. There
is no statewide regulation of massage therapy; any person
engaging in the profession of massage in several different
cities may be subject to several different types of
regulation.
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In addition, statewide certification of massage therapy will
provide consumers with recourse if they are harmed in the
process of receiving a massage. Finally, by requiring
background clearances consumers will be provided with
additional protections against individuals using massage
therapy as a means for conducting illicit or illegal
activities.
2)Related Legislation . In 2005, SB 412 (Figueroa), a
substantially similar bill, failed passage on the Assembly
floor (24 - 38).
In 2003, AB 1388 (Kehoe), would have established the Massage
Therapy and Bodyworks Commission in the Department of Consumer
Affairs to register and regulate massage therapists and
bodyworkers. It was referred to Assembly Business and
Professions Committee but was never heard.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081