BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1904
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Susan A. Bonilla, Chair
AB 1904 (Bonilla) - As Introduced: February 19, 2014
SUBJECT : Massage therapists: contact information.
SUMMARY : Requires a certified massage therapist or certified
massage practitioner to notify the California Massage Therapy
Council (Council) of his or her primary e-mail address, if any,
and notify the Council within 30 days of any change to the
primary e-mail address. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a certificate holder to notify the Council of his or
her primary e-mail address, if any, and further notify the
Council within 30 days of any change to the primary e-mail
address.
2)Makes two additional technical and clarifying changes.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes the Council and defines the responsibilities and
duties of the Council. (Business and Professions Code (BPC)
Section 4600.5)
2)Requires the Council to issue a "massage therapist"
certificate to an applicant, who submits a written
application and provides satisfactory evidence that he or
she meets all of the specified education, experience or
examination requirements. (BCP 4601)
3)Requires the Council to issue a "massage practitioner"
certificate to an applicant who submits a written application
and provides with satisfactory evidence that he or she meets
all of the specified education, experience or examination
requirements.
(BCP 4601)
FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS :
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1)Purpose of the bill . In order for the Council to communicate
more quickly and economically with the professionals it
regulates, this bill requires certificate holders to provide
the Council with an e-mail address, if any, and update the
Council if the e-mail address changes within 30 days. This
bill is author sponsored.
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "This bill is
one small step in a long process to reform the current
regulatory system for massage professionals in California.
Given the recent concerns raised by local governments and
local law enforcement entities that a growing number of
massage businesses are engaged in illegal activity, this bill
simply requires certificate holders to provide their e-mail
addresses, if any, to the Council so that it can communicate
with them more quickly and at a lower cost."
3)Regulation of massage therapy . SB 731 (Oropeza), Chapter 384,
Statutes of 2008, established a system of voluntary statewide
certification of massage therapists by the Massage Therapy
Organization (MTO), which was renamed the California Massage
Therapy Council in 2011. The goal of the Council is to
standardize the process of certification throughout the state.
The certifications it provides allow massage professionals to
work in multiple California locations without the need for
duplicative local certifications. The Council is led by a
volunteer Board of Directors comprised of professionals from
California's massage community, including massage
associations, schools, and businesses. The Council's
authority in statute is set to expire on January 1, 2015
unless extended by legislative action.
4)Sunset Review of the Council . The sunset review process
provides a formal mechanism for the Legislature, Department of
Consumer Affairs (DCA), the individual regulatory entities,
and other stakeholders to raise issues and make
recommendations for improvements to the various consumer
protection boards and bureaus. This is performed on a standard
four-year cycle and was mandated by SB 2036 (McCorquodale),
Chapter 908, Statutes of 1994. The legislation pertaining to
this bill was based on specific issues raised and addressed in
the reports released by the Assembly Business, Professions and
Consumer Protection Committee.
AB 1904
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In March of 2014, the Assembly Business, Professions and
Consumer Protection Committee and the Senate Business,
Professions and Economic Development Committee conducted joint
oversight hearings to review regulatory boards and other
entities, including the Council. While many issues were
raised as to how California's existing massage therapy
regulations should be reformed, this bill simply enacts one
reform among the many raised in the sunset hearings.
5)Arguments in opposition . Massage California writes in
opposition, "While we believe that it would be in the best
interest of massage therapists to keep a current e-mail on
file with the [Council], to require it would eliminate an
option for applicants and certified professionals to select
how they wish to be contacted, as they have in virtually every
state agency, for-profit company and nonprofit organization."
6)Related legislation . AB 2739 (Assembly Business, Professions
and Consumer Protection Committee) of 2014 would have extended
the sunset date for the Council until January 1, 2019. This
bill is pending in the Assembly Business, Professions and
Consumer Protection Committee.
AB 1147 (Gomez) of 2013, enacts the Massage Therapy Act of
2014, which revises and recast existing law and introduces a
wide variety of reforms to the regulation of massage therapy.
This bill is pending in the Senate Business, Professions and
Economic Development Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
Massage California
Analysis Prepared by : Elissa Silva / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
AB 1904
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