Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Hb 1458 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Finance Committee backs law-enforcement-first proprietor license for massage businesses, 8–0
Summary
The Finance Division I committee recommended passage of House Bill 1458 with an amendment to require criminal-background checks and identity verification for proprietors, arguing the measure targets operators of illicit massage businesses while limiting cost and burden on legitimate small operators.
The House Finance Division I recommended passage Tuesday of House Bill 1458, a bill that would add a proprietor license for multi-person massage operations and require identity verification and criminal-background checks for those proprietors.
Sponsor Representative Erica Leyon said the measure is intended to give law enforcement a practical entry point to identify and prosecute operators of illicit massage establishments, many of whom do not reside in New Hampshire or hold professional therapist licenses. “Requiring their identity and a criminal background check reduces the pool of bad actors operating facilities while not impacting the people that live in New Hampshire and have legitimate businesses,” Leyon said.
The bill, as amended for committee consideration, would remove the separate requirement that a proprietor also hold a massage-therapist professional license and instead focus on licensing the person who controls day-to-day operation and hiring. Supporters argued that licensing the proprietor — and requiring a social security or taxpayer ID plus checks for convictions related to human trafficking, sexual abuse and fraud — would make it harder for criminal networks to run facilities as “ghost” operations.
Director DJ Jurus of the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC) told the committee that HB1458’s statutory language does not itself create new positions and that the principal fiscal exposure lies in broader rulemaking and inspection authority contained in the companion bill, HB1469. Jurus also agreed to work with the sponsor and the Department of Safety on statutory language to authorize the specific national (FBI) fingerprint checks the committee members requested.
Members debated whether licensing proprietors would be sufficient or whether licensing establishments and imposing inspections (the approach in HB1469) would be more effective. Several lawmakers said a staged approach made sense: require proprietor licensing first to identify operations and measure the market, then consider additional inspection authority if needed. “It will let us identify how many operations there are and what percentage of them are illegitimate,” Leyon said.
The committee voted 8–0 to recommend HB1458 ought to pass with the amendment that staff and the sponsor finalize language to ensure state and federal background checks are authorized.
What happens next: The committee’s recommendation sends HB1458 forward for consideration by the full Finance Committee and then the House. The amendment language on background checks will be drafted with OPLC and the Department of Safety and presented at full committee.
