Utah Legislative Update: House Bill 278

Your voices were heard! Your outreach on Utah House Bill 278 (HB 278), led to revisions to the legislation, helping to safeguard the massage therapy profession. 

Last week, AMTA discussed HB 278 and how its implementaion could have harmful effects for both massage therapists and clients. We were especially concerned about the "Registered Massage Practitioner" designation which would allow individuals to practice massage without any education, examination or safety standards. We saw this as a serious threat to the safety of our clients, the credibility of our work, and the integrity of our profession.

Thanks to the advocacy efforts of our AMTA-UT chapter, Utah massage therapists, and our lobbyist, HB 278 sponsors have removed problematic sections and made vital revisions to the bill including:
  • Removing "credentialed" from the bill and replacing it with "licensed."
  • Eliminating an unlicensed "Registered Massage Practitioner" as a legal designation for practicing massage.
  • Removing an additional tier for "Clinical Massage Therapy" that may have been restrictive for massage therapists who specialize in pain management.
  • Maintaining sole practitioners as exempt when registering a massage establishment.
Although there is still work to be done, we appreciate the good-faith effort of the HB 278 sponsors to collaborate with the massage community and create a draft that meets the needs of all stakeholders. The newly-amended HB 278 passed out of the Senate Business and Labor Committee earlier this week and the Senate last night; it will now move forward to the Governor's desk for final passage.
 
We are grateful to our massage therapy community for advocating to ensure that both therapists and their clients are protected--your voice truly made a difference. We will continue to advocate on behalf of the massage therapy profession in your state. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please reach out to our Government Relations Team.

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