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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 behaviors ... in a way that doesn't be overly burdensome on the legitimate business owners," he said.
Key components of the first substitute include a registry for massage establishments so regulators can identify and trace owners and operators, clarified investigatory authority for inspectors to access facilities, distinguishing "clinical" (therapeutic) and "nonclinical" massage modalities, and establishing a modest "massage safety permit" for exempt modalities (similar to cosmetology's safety permit) so practitioners of specific techniques can meet minimum safety training without full licensure. Representative Thurston said the approach is intended to avoid an unbounded list of exemptions while ensuring minimum safety training for those practicing limited modalities.
Jeff Shumway, director of OPLER, told the committee the review found Utah has a high number of massage therapists per capita and a rising number of illicit massage businesses. "Safety is a serious concern," Shumway said, noting illicit businesses were growing at a rate tracked by a national nonprofit. Law-enforcement speakers urged the panel to back the bill as a tool to shut down illicit parlors alongside criminal enforcement. Nate Mudder, chair of the law enforcement legislative committee, said "we need other tools to shut these things down and get them out of our state."
Licensed therapists and apprenticeship program representatives asked for careful drafting to avoid unintentionally restricting legitimate practitioners or confusing supervisory definitions; sponsor Thurston said stakeholder technical issues had largely been addressed in the first substitute and urged adoption of the sub.
Committee members adopted the first substitute and recommended HB 278 favorably; the sponsor said the substitute reflects stakeholder negotiations and adds enforcement clarity targeted at illicit operations and misconduct while preserving training pathways, apprenticeships and a massage-assistant tier.
