Georgia Senate Bill 364 passes out of Senate Judiciary Committee: Could pass Senate as early as Wednesday

SB 364 passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning with the support of the Georgia Municipal Association. The bill updates our massage therapy practice act to include more severe penalties for violations, gives the board more power over unlicensed activity rather than just for licensees, and 'clarifies' the rights of the cities and counties to regulate massage therapy establishments. (State law already allows municipalities to regulate establishment licenses, and good law writing does not recommend repeating laws in more than one section of code.) Two massage therapists attended the meeting, myself and Jane Johnson, both of whom participated in passing the original practice act. The committee appears to have made no amendments to the original bill.

This bill is part of a drive add language that helps cities crack down on prostitution and human trafficking. You will find no stronger advocate than me for getting the parlor out of massage. My fear that without limits, it will also encourage cities to bring back the old restrictive parlor laws that included $2000 business license fees, same sex only massage, prohibited massage on children, expensive annual police investigations, mandated unlocked offices, viewing windows into the treatment room, extra certifications and memberships, and prohibition against stand alone massage practices.

Without some sort of limit on municipal jurisdiction, perhaps tying it to the business licenses of other licensed or healthcare professionals, we could be revisiting those difficult days of a patchwork of qualifications for massage therapists to practice. The Illinois code, for example, limits the right to regulate massage therapy to the state.

There are two similar anti-prostitution bills also working their way through the House and Senate, HB Bill 1256 and SB 304.

I could not find a schedule for the Senate General Session, so I called the Secretary of the Senate Office. She told me there was no web published calendar but referred me to a house resolution that did not seem to contain a schedule. She did go on to say that if the committee passed it this morning, the report of the committee will be read the following session, which starts this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. At the next meeting will be the 'Second reader,' Tuesday earliest, since there is no general session on Friday or Monday. Wednesday will be the first session the Senate can pass it.

You can find your Georgia State Senator by district, by name, or by your home address. You can also find out when committees meet by consulting the Senate or House calendar. I suspect once the Senate passes it, it will be referred to committee by the House before it reaches their floor. If someone would like to clarify that, I would appreciate it.

If you would like to contact your senator and give your feedback on this bill, you would need to contact him or her before next Wednesday. There is an update on the AMTA-Georgia Chapter website, or you can contact your group, ABMP or IMA, for more guidance. There is also a discussion group on ABMP's Massage and Bodywork forum.