A new bill, OK SB 687, has been introduced in the Oklahoma State Senate which, if passed, would require that all Oklahoma massage therapists obtain a state massage therapy license in order to practice. Additionally, anyone using any title indicating that he or she is a massage therapist, or who uses the term "massage" in advertising, would be required to have a massage therapy license. Click here to read the bill.
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A new bill, WY S 86, has been introduced in the Wyoming State Senate which, if passed, would require that Wyoming massage therapists hold a state professional license in order to practice. Click here to read the bill. The bill is currently in the initial stages of the state legislative process and may or may not become law in Wyoming.
New York Assembly Bill 9259 was signed into law by Governor Cuomo on December 17, 2014. Under the new law, a massage therapist who holds a massage license in another state does not need to have a New York State massage license in order to teach the hands on portion of a CE course in New York, as long as the CE course (1) is taught in connection with a CE program that is conducted by a New York State-approved CE sponsor, and (2) pertains to a modality that falls within New York's scope of practice for massage.
A new law was passed in Florida this year, s.456.0135, F.S, which imposes new background check requirements on massage therapists. Under the new law, all Florida-licensed massage therapists who received their license prior to July 1, 2014 must complete a criminal background check prior to January 31, 2015. Massage therapists who have certain types of felony offens
At the recent Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB) Annual Meeting, it was announced that the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork will no longer be offering or accepting licensure exam applications as of November 1, 2014, and will cease offering licensure exams effective February 1, 2015. These exams used for licensing include the:
Alaska House Bill 328 was signed by Governor Parnell on August 11, 2014, and is now the law in Alaska. The law requires that all massage therapists practicing in Alaska must have a state-issued massage license. The new law does not go into effect until July 15, 2015. There is nothing that you need to do immediately, since a State Board of Massage Therapists has not been appointed by the Governor yet, administrative regulations have not been issued yet, and license applications are not available yet.
The Wisconsin Massage Therapy and Bodywork Affiliated Credentialing Board has announced that beginning with the license renewal period that starts on March 1, 2015, each Massage Therapist/Bodywork Therapist must complete 24 hours of continuing education (CE), including two hours of ethics, to renew a license.
License renewal periods run from March 1 of every odd-numbered year to February 28 of the next odd-numbered year.
This means that you must complete the required 24 hours of CE by February 28, 2017.
AB 1147 was signed into law by Governor Brown on September 18, 2014. The bill authorizes the continuation of statewide voluntary certification for massage therapists by the California Massage Therapy Council. In addition the bill does the following:
Recently introduced NJ Assembly Bill 3469 and identical NJ Senate Bill 1608 propose to make two important changes to New Jersey’s massage therapy licensing law.