Oregon

Oregon Senate Bill 387 was recently introduced in the state legislature. If passed, the bill would require that all “massage facilities,” meaning any “facility where a person engages in the practice of massage,” must obtain a massage facility permit from the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists in order to operate. This requirement would not apply to licensed massage schools or to individual massage therapists working out of their homes.

SB 454 was signed by Governor Kitzhaber on 5/16/2011. The law exempts individuals who are practicing energy work or movement education from massage therapy licensing provided that the individual's services are not designated or implied to be massage or massage therapy and he or she is "certified by a professional organization or credentialing agency." The State Board of Massage Therapists has the authority to verify that a practitioner claiming to be exempt is "certified" as required.

HB 2059 is currently moving through the Oregon State Legislature. The bill amends and creates new provisions for health regulatory boards, including the Oregon Board of Massage Therapy (OBMT). This seemingly innocuous bill turned much less so on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, when the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) proposed an amendment that would require the OBMT to accept their national certification exams. The amendment (HB 2059-A7) reads as follows:

The Oregon Board of Massage Therapy is now requiring the Massage and Bodywork Licensing Exam (MBLEx) offered by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB: www.fsmtb.org) as a qualification for licensure.

A rules hearing will be held on August 22, 2008 at 9 a.m. by the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists, 748 Hawthorne Avenue NE, Salem OR 97306