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Massage therapists urge licensure, warn registration leaves Vermonters at risk
Summary
Multiple witnesses told the Government Operations Committee that Vermont’s current registration system does not verify education or protect the public and urged the committee to adopt licensure and an establishment license, while cautioning about fees and the impact on small shared‑space operators.
The Senate Committee on Government Operations heard layered testimony March 31 from massage therapists and national association representatives who urged the committee to replace Vermont’s registration system with mandatory licensure for massage therapists and a separate license for establishments as part of House Bill 588.
Heather Chadwick, president of the Vermont chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association, told lawmakers registration imposes no education or professional standards and leaves the public vulnerable to harm. “Vermonters deserve better. They should be protected by the state entity that is charged with ensuring that professionals meet state requirements,” Chadwick said, arguing for education, background checks, insurance and scope‑of‑practice rules.
Instructor and practitioner Laura Mley said she holds her program to the 500‑hour national minimum so graduates can sit for the national licensing exam (the MBLEx). She said registration in Vermont has not verified education or set a scope of practice and called current registration fees and outreach insufficient: “I pay an exorbitant fee, yet we see no representation,” she said, adding that an establishment license could impose a material cost on small businesses that rent shared spaces.
Christine Huber, government relations representative for the American Massage Therapy Association, told the committee that 45 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories license massage therapists. She argued licensure enables background checks, scope definitions, continuing education and coordinated enforcement work with law enforcement that can make it harder for bad actors and trafficking operations to persist.
Committee members probed portability, education‑hour standards, and whether licensure correlates with reduced trafficking; witnesses said standards vary (commonly 500–650 hours; New York requires up to 1,000 hours) and that licensure provides enforcement tools that registration does not. Witnesses and senators also discussed the bill’s current thresholds (witnesses said the bill as drafted requires a registration/establishment license when two or more therapists operate from a space) and the fiscal burden of fees for small operators.
Why it matters: Supporters framed licensure as both a public‑safety measure and a workforce standard that would align Vermont with neighboring states and improve portability for practitioners. Opponents and small-business proponents (not recorded in testimony) may be chiefly concerned about fees and the potential loss of shared or community spaces.
The committee did not vote on the massage therapy provisions during the March 31 session and took a recess.
