Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Committee approves massage-therapy reforms aimed at cracking down on illicit parlors and adding establishment registration
Summary
Lawmakers advanced HB 278 after sponsors said the bill narrows standards, creates an establishment registry and improves investigative authority to address illicit massage businesses and sexual-misconduct complaints while creating safety permits for certain nonlicensed modalities.
The House committee adopted the first substitute of HB 278, Massage Therapy Amendments, a package sponsors described as "right-sizing" regulation to better target illicit massage businesses and sexual misconduct while protecting legitimate practitioners.
Representative Thurston, sponsor of the bill, said the Office of Professional Licensure and Enforcement (OPLER) review found safety issues concentrated in two areas: sexual misconduct by licensees (consensual and nonconsensual) and illicit massage businesses operating as fronts for trafficking. "The primary question was how do we create regulations that focus and target on these inappropriate…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
