PLEASE VOTE NO! TO HAVE NO LAW IS BETTER THAN HAVING A BAD LAW.
LICENSING OF MASSAGE THERAPISTS IS AN UNNECESSARY and BURDENSOME LAW!

* UNCONSTITUTIONAL to REQUIRE LICENSING OF CURRENT THERAPISTS: Indiana constitution Art 1 Sec 24 states, "No ex post facto law shall ever be passed" and Art 1 Sec 21 states, "No person's particular services shall be demanded, without just compensation. No person's property shall be taken by law, without just compensation." Foundational law states, "A workman is worth his hire." Legislators cannot LAWFULLY force someone currently offering massage to accept a state license. All current therapists are EXEMPT from any "law" that would be passed.

* CONFUSING: Restricts "Bodyworker" to one under its authority, yet exempts at least eight techniques which fall under the umbrella of bodywork. (Feldenkrais, Alexander technique, myofascial, reflexology, shiatsu, polarity, Reiki, therapeutic touch)

* CREATES A COSTLY NEW STATE AGENCY at a time when most candidates promise to drastically reduce spending.

* DOES NOT PROTECT FROM SEXUAL MISCONDUCT: IC 35-45-4 already provides this protection without burdening law-abiding therapists by license. Such false "therapists" can be arrested without massage licensing. Also, prostitutes posing as therapists are not "newly arriving" in Indiana due to Illinois & Kentucky licensure. Two such places have been in Terre Haute for 20 years and "everybody" there knows what they do.

* IMPOSES HARDSHIP UPON YOUNG, MIDDLE AGED AND ELDERLY CLIENTS DUE TO FEWER THERAPISTS AVAILABLE and HIGHER MASSAGE RATES: Licensing is a disservice to the large numbers of Indiana Citizens, in need of massage, who have come to realize the fact that regular massage helps prevent dis-ease and reduce pain, by reducing or financially limiting the numbers of new and existing therapists (see below).

* IMPOSES ECONOMIC RESTRICTIONS UPON STUDENTS of MASSAGE: The bill forces students to wait until a state license is issued to receive any type of compensation. Students could not even be paid working in a school clinic, which collects fees from the public. With current non-regulation, students can charge for services while still learning. Allowing students to charge helps pay for class, build business clients & build career enthusiasm. The bill delays this mental and economic boost to new entrepreneurs for 9 to 18 months. Delays, increased school costs, license fees and mandatory association memberships directly cause increased fees for clients.

* REDUCES AND LIMITS NEW THERAPISTS BY REDUCING EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS: Allows only a traditional accredited 500-supervised-hour education format before one can work. Traditional massage college is $7000-$10000 while apprenticeships/workshops average $500-$2500 each. Traditional college is 6-12 months while other learning styles put the new therapist to work serving clients and able to receive compensation within 2-3 months while learning continues. Under this bill, only long-term and expensive choices remain.(EMT's only require 150 hours!)

* EXCLUDES THERAPISTS IN BUSINESS LESS THAN 2 YEARS: The "grandfather clause" does NOT include every current therapist. Graduates of traditional 500-hr schools or members of 500-hr associations will be grandfathered. For apprentice or home-study graduates, the clause ONLY accepts those providing massage for at least 2 years prior to bill enactment AND willing to give 2 years of IRS returns to the "State Board of Massage." Giving IRS records breaches privacy and does not determine if the person is a qualified or ethical therapist! (I know several excellent therapists in business less than 1 year who are NOT eligible for licensing under this bill. Their clients would be terribly disappointed.)

* RENEWAL CLAUSE WILL ELIMINATE MANY "GRANDFATHERED" THERAPISTS: Further, many grandfathered would be eliminated after 2 years, as the bill requires proof of membership in a professional massage association (defined loosely as one requiring 500 hrs of school for membership) to renew the license. AMTA accepts only 500-hr graduates, so those trained by apprenticeship, workshops, or home study that accept license and are rejected by AMTA will lose the license after 4 years. IMA & ABMP allow members with 150 hours training, but these memberships do not qualify for state license renewal with this bill. Most therapists join associations primarily for insurance; this should be voluntary, not mandatory. To legislate this creates a State-enforced monopoly for private associations.

* IMPOSES A CIVIL PENALTY UPON "ANYONE" CLAIMING THE "ABILITY TO GIVE MASSAGE:" Anyone claiming to be "able to practice massage therapy. without being licensed. shall pay a civil penalty to the board. for each violation..." In the bill, "massage" now includes laying on ice or heat packs or rubbing in ointment, so mothers, families, friends caring for each other, human resource and safety directors of businesses and other alternative health practitioners may be fined for practicing massage without license for applying ice or ointment!

* ALLOWS "TRIAL" BY A MASSAGE BOARD: Gives them power to execute fines and judgments against fellow citizens without trial by jury, based on their own convictions. This power recently resulted in a local chiropractor being "suspended" from work she was duly trained to complete, upsetting many satisfied clients. The order was issued after an anonymous complaint stated she worked "outside her scope of knowledge." It was only after an expensive legal battle that she was able to overcome this judgment and return to serving her clients in the manner that she was trained. She now faces another suit by the State of Indiana for allegedly violating a non-existent law! "Where there is no law, there is no transgression." Let's uphold the laws currently in existence and eliminate or prevent laws that do nothing to encourage free trade among lawful citizens!!!

* STATE REGULATION of COMMERCIAL SPEECH is UNLAWFUL without legitimate PROOF OF HARM: If the State wishes to regulate an industry (especially titles) it MUST "demonstrate that the harms it recites are real and that its restriction will in fact alleviate the harms to a material degree." (US Supreme Court) If the State cannot present these evidences, it has no business controlling an industry under the guise of "public protection." Neither the Public Policy committee, nor the AMTA lobbyists have ever demonstrated real harms. There are only vague references of "it MIGHT be harmful," or "someone COULD get hurt." You could get hurt walking down the sidewalk, too. Are walking permits next? "Possible harms" are smokescreens. The Supreme Court continues, "The State's burden is NOT SLIGHT." The State carries the "burden to 'demonstrate that the harms it recites are real AND THAT ITS RESTRICTION WILL IN FACT ALLEVIATE THE HARMS to a material degree.' "MERE SPECULATION WILL NOT SUFFICE." Although many "squeaky wheels" claim licensing will protect people from unqualified therapists, they have not demonstrated their claims. Without such evidence, the State has a legal responsibility to REJECT such legislation and defeat HB1098 by voting NO.

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© Copyright 2006 D. Sunshine Yoder. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to use this information or to
reprint for free distribution to massage therapists, senators, representatives and other interested parties.