Advocates urge Bloomington to regulate massage businesses, citing illicit‑spa trafficking concerns

Several residents and trafficking‑prevention advocates urged the Bloomington City Council to adopt local regulations requiring massage‑business registration and proof of therapist licensure, saying illicit massage businesses are a conduit for human trafficking.

Paul Halverson, speaking during public comment, framed trafficking as a community problem that "everyone needs to come together," citing social and fiscal harms that he said follow from trafficking victims’ involvement with criminal justice and health systems.

Nancy Bolliger, executive director of Allies Against Trafficking, told the council the illicit massage industry is a major trafficking channel and urged the city to act. "As of March sixth of this year, there are 14 illicit massage businesses in Bloomington," she said, adding that the illicit industry "is one of the largest, most networked forms of human trafficking in The United States, generating over $5,000,000,000 in revenue a year." Bolliger urged the council to adopt an ordinance requiring massage establishments to register with the city and to prove that their therapists are licensed by the state of Illinois, a model she said neighboring communities have used successfully.

Bolliger cited actions by nearby jurisdictions: "Since 02/2018, Springfield, Peoria, Chatham, and Morton passed local ordinances to regulate massage businesses," she said, and described closures that followed in some communities. She asked the council to adopt similar regulatory tools in Bloomington so that law enforcement and city staff can verify that operations are legitimate and licensed.

Council members did not take immediate action at the meeting; the comments were part of the public‑comment period. Staff and council members acknowledged the request and did not announce a specific timeline for drafting an ordinance.