Mississippi House Bill 1315 was introduced January 28, 2021, and sent to committee with no mention of massage therapy. The bill sponsor is Representative and Speaker of the House Philip Gunn. In the House committee held February 3, 2021, the bill was amended to deregulate massage therapy with one simple sentence. The bill is now on the way to the Senate, and we believe it will end up in the Senate Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committee for a vote.
ABMP is opposed to this bill and has sent this letter to Mississippi state senators on the Senate Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committee urging them to remove the section that deregulates massage therapy. Specifically, Section 10 at line 333 provides a list of specific sections in the Mississippi Code of 1972, and states that these sections “. . . which create the Mississippi Professional Massage Therapy Act and the State Board of Massage Therapy, are repealed.”
Massage therapists in Mississippi have gone through extensive training, passed the MBLEx, and are required to complete robust continuing education to renew their licenses. Without the education and training that licensed massage therapists have, severe damage can be done when performing massage techniques on the public. The Massage Practice Act is in place to protect the public. The public can be harmed without licensed massage therapists’ knowledge of anatomy, physiology and kinesiology, contraindications, law, and ethics.
Deregulating will lead to more injuries for the public, such as overextended hips and muscles, broken ribs, herniated discs, and neck injuries.
We encourage you to send this letter courtesy of ABMP to voice your opinion. Simply fill out the email template with the appropriate information and send it to your senator by Monday, February 8, 2021.
Find your senator here.
Here are the emails for the senators on the Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committee:
Chairman, John A Polk - jpolk@senate.ms.gov
Vice Chairperson, Angela Burks Hill – ahill@senate.ms.gov
Senator Kevin Blackwell – kblackwell@senate.ms.gov
Senator David Blount – dblount@senate.ms.gov
Senator Jennifer B. Branning – jbranning@senate.ms.gov
Senator Albert Butler – abutler@senate.ms.gov
Senator W. Briggs Hopson – bhopson@senate.ms.gov
Senator Chris McDaniel – cmcdaniel@senate.ms.gov
Senator Rita Potts Parks – rparks@senate.ms.gov
Senator Mike Thompson – mthompson@senate.ms.gov
Senator Angela Turner-Ford – aturner@senate.ms.gov
Thank you.
If you have questions or concerns, email us at gr@abmp.com.