ACTION ALERT: Maine Legislature Seeking Deregulation of Massage Therapists and Aestheticians - Please Contact Your Legislators

The Maine Legislature is considering LD1036/SP342, which would require the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation to "study and develop recommended legislation" to deregulate a number of professions, including massage therapy and aesthetics. ABMP and ASCP are opposed to this effort. The proposal is set for hearing on Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 2:30 PM, in the Cross Building, 111 Sewall St., Augusta, Maine, Room 208 in the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Legislative Committee.

Click here to read the formal opposition letter that ABMP/ASCP has submitted to the members of the committee and the sponsors of the proposal.

We urge you to contact your legislators and ask them to vote NO on this proposal. The priority legislators to contact are:

Committee Chair - Senator Amy Volk (R) - Amy.Volk@legislature.maine.gov - co-sponsor - Cumberland

Representative Dillon Bates (D) - Dillon.Bates@legislature.maine.gov - co-sponsor-Westbrook (the swing vote on the committee)

Senator Brakey – Prime Sponsor (R) - 287-1505 or 406-0897, sen.eric.brakey@gmail.com - Auburn

Otherwise, we suggest you contact as many legislators listed below as you can, especially legislators that represent your district. Here is the relevant contact information:

Committee Chair - Senator Amy Volk (R) - Amy.Volk@legislature.maine.gov - co-sponsor - Cumberland

Senator Shenna Bellows (D)- Shenna.Bellows@Legislature.Maine.gov - Kennebec

Senator Brian Langley (R)- 207-667-0625, Brian.Langley@legislature.maine.gov – co-sponsor - Hancock

Representative Ryan Fecteau (D) - Ryan.Fecteau@legislature.maine.gov - Biddeford

Representative Susan Austin (R) - 207-657-4100, Sue.Austin@legislature.maine.gov – co-sponsor - Gray

Representative Dillon Bates (D) - Dillon.Bates@legislature.maine.gov – Westbrook Co sponsor

Representative Michelle Dunphy (D) - 207-827-8989, Michelle.Dunphy@legislature.maine.gov – Old Town

Representative James Handy (D) - 207-784-5595 James.Handy@Legislature.Maine.gov - Lewiston

Representative Lawrence Lockman (R) - Lawrence.Lockman@legislature.maine.gov – co-sponsor - Amherst

Representative Anne-Marie Mastraccio (D) - Anne-Marie.Mastraccio@legislature.maine.gov - Sanford

Representative Joel Stetkis (R) - Joel.Stetkis@legislature.maine.gov – co-sponsor - Canaan

Representative Michael Sylvester (D) - Michael.Sylvester@Legislature.Maine.gov – Portland/Peaks Island

Representative Karen Vachon – (R) - Karen.Vachon@legislature.maine.gov – co-sponsor – Scarborough

Please "cc" the following staff on all emails:

Committee Clerk: Diane Steward – Diane.Steward@legislature.maine.gov on all emails.

Office of Fiscal and Program Review (OFPR) & Office of Policy and Legal Analysis (OPLA) Analysts :

OFPR Analyst – Rachel Tremblay - Rachel.Tremblay@legislature.maine.gov

OPLA Analyst – Henry Founts - Henry.Fouts@legislature.maine.gov

OFPR Analyst – Janet Stocco - Janet.Stocco@Legislature.Maine.gov

Talking Points: Please let the legislators know that you are a constituent and a practicing massage or aesthetician professional. Feel free to express your opinions about this deregulation proposal in your own words. However, here are some suggested talking points should you wish to incorporate them:

• LD1036/SP342 would remove all education and training requirements from professions which, practiced without proper training and education, have the potential to cause often serious physical injury to clients.
   
• The public should be able to know, and wants to know, that the massage therapist or aesthetics professional that he or she is engaging meets a minimum level of education and training so as not to cause physical harm to the client.
   
• The public does not have the ability to self-educate as to whether a particular practitioner is adequately trained, or what adequate training even means in these professions. The public relies on mandatory licensure for the assurance that the practitioner is competent and adequately trained so as not to cause harm.

We will keep you apprised of the status of this proposal.