Assembly Bill 619 seeks technical changes to the existing law. In 2008, Senate Bill 731 (Oropeza, Chapter 384) was passed and created a statewide voluntary certification program for massage professionals and a non-profit massage therapy organization to administer the program. The primary benefit of its passage was to provide massage therapists some financial relief from restrictive and discriminatory local ordinances and from having duplicative processes to practice in multiple locations.
The current voluntary certification program is administered by the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) and it is working. The certification process includes DOJ and FBI background checks and verification that minimum education requirements have been met. More than 20,000 individuals have met the qualifications (of 26,000+ applicants) for CAMTC certification and are enjoying the economic benefit of having to obtain only one credential to practice massage anywhere in California.
The technical changes in AB 619 include:
- Change the terminology of "approved" school to "recognized" school;
- Remove the vague term "Massage Therapy Organization" currently in law and replacing it with the name of the organization (CAMTC);
- Specify that litigation will be in the county of CAMTC offices;
- Clarify that conditional certificates automatically end when an applicant doesn't complete the process when time expires;
- Add a commonly used severability clause.
The bill would also require CAMTC certified individuals to include his or her name and CAMTC certification number in advertising and display his or her certificate to clearly identify themselves to consumers.
ABMP supports AB 619.