Colorado

SB 219, sponsored by Senator Chris Romer, has been advancing through the Colorado General Assembly. Currently the bill is scheduled to be heard by the House Appropriations Committee. A lot has changed since the introduction of the bill and first committee hearing on April 16, 2008.
Due to a compromise with the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), the bill has been amended from a licensure act to a mandatory registration program, which is a less rigid regulatory program. If passed, the bill would still benefit the massage therapy community in three primary ways:

Senate Bill 219, sponsored by Senator Chris Romer, has been introduced in the Colorado General Assembly. The bill has been assigned to the Business, Labor and Technology Committee. If passed, SB 219 would establish a Massage Therapy Practice Act under the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Registrations. Licenses would be required of all massage therapists.

If the bill does pass, massage therapists will be impacted as follows:

Massage Therapists Evaluate A Predictable Response from DORA

Colorado law requires that individuals or groups proposing legislation to regulate any occupation or profession first submit information to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) for the purpose of sunrise review. Sunrise review is essentially an analysis of an occupation with the intent being to only impose regulation on occupations when it is necessary to protect public health, safety, or welfare.

The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) released the Sunrise Review regarding the regulation of massage therapists on October 15, 2007. Predictably, the review did not recommend that the state regulate massage therapists. A copy of the report can be found at:
http://www.dora.state.co.us/opr/archive/2007MassageTherapists.pdf.

Additional comments will be posted after an analysis of the report is complete.