South Dakota HB 1102, discussed in our previous legislative update, was signed into law on March 11, 2015. The new law amends the state's massage therapist licensing statute by removing the high school graduation requirement for licensure.

Arkansas HB 1562 has now been signed into law. The final version of the bill does not include Bowenwork exclusion or the registration requirement mentioned in our previous Legislative Update. The new law does extend the definition of prohibited sexual misconduct to include an express prohibition against “sexual activity with consent of or at the request of a client,” and also adds new options for late license renewal by licensees who are on active military duty.

AR S 145 was passed by the Arkansas state legislature and has been signed into law.  The new law abolishes the Arkansas State Board of Massage Therapy and transfers all of the Board’s powers, duties, and functions, including rulemaking, licensing, and adjudications, to the Arkansas State Board of Health.  The main provisions of the law go into effect on October 1, 2015.

Idaho HB 23 was signed into law on March 5, 2015.  Under the new law, starting on July 1, 2015, an Idaho massage license is not required for therapists who are currently licensed, registered or certified in another state or foreign country if they are practicing in Idaho on clients participating in organized athletic teams or events, or in performing arts companies, for no more than sixty 60 days in a calendar year.

Montana SB 104 was signed into law on February 25, 2015.  The law makes a purely technical change to the state’s massage therapy law by deleting the provisions pertaining to obtaining a license by grandfathering, which expired in 2012.

North Dakota SB 2085, discussed in our previous legislative update, was signed into law on April 8, 2015. The final version of the law amends the state’s massage therapy statute by reducing the number of continuing education hours required for massage therapists in North Dakota from 32 to 24, every two years.  The law also reduces the number of CE hours that can be earned remotely from 12 to nine, and requires three hours of ethics CE.  No CE is required during a licensee’s initial two-year licensing period.

ABMP’s ninth biennial census of massage school programs—a comprehensive look at massage school and graduation numbers—was completed earlier this year. ABMP contacted more than 1,400 programs in our database and asked them one question: “How many students graduated from your primary massage program in 2014?”

Read the full report here: www.abmp.com/shrinking-pie2015.pdf