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Senate rejects measure to expand chiropractic acupuncture authority after safety and training debate
Summary
The Senate debated House Bill 313 for over an hour before voting it down. Sponsors said the bill would let the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing set postgraduate standards for chiropractic acupuncture; critics said the language risked diluting training and patient safety. Final vote: failed (9–17, 3 absent).
Senator Steele led debate on House Bill 313 on March 2, 1998, a measure that would allow the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL) to establish postgraduate education and examination requirements, “based upon national standards,” for chiropractic physicians who practice acupuncture. Supporters said the change would bring chiropractors within a regulated framework and avoid an unregulated practice of acupuncture by practitioners without standardized training.
Opponents pressed that the amendment as drafted blurred distinct training regimens. Senator Maine warned the Senate that the bill could ‘‘water down standards and safety and health for patients’’ by enabling shorter training tracks for some practitioners than those required of licensed acupuncturists. Senator Montgomery and others said the measure lacked precise definitions of the acupuncture “modalities” it was intended to cover and could create inconsistent standards across modalities.
Senator Steele described the amendment as a mechanism to require DOPL to set postgraduate education rules ‘‘based upon national standards’’ and said the intention was not to broaden scope but to avoid imposing unnecessary training in unrelated branches of Chinese medicine. Steele told colleagues DOPL had pledged to work with acupuncture stakeholders on training and examination standards and argued the bill provided a way to regulate practice and protect consumers.
The floor considered a narrowly focused amendment the sponsor had proposed to clarify the scope; that amendment failed on the question to amend. Senators who opposed the bill repeatedly urged postponement or further study to reconcile differences between chiropractic and acupuncture professional groups. Several senators raised public‑safety concerns about needle use, sterilization and the large discrepancy in training hours described during debate.
On final third‑reading roll call the bill failed to pass: 9 ayes, 17 nays, and 3 absent, so House Bill 313 will not proceed from the Senate in its presented form.
