AOBTA® Minnesota | Town Hall Meeting on State Registration Legislation

Town Hall Meeting on State Registration Legislation

Thursday, April 28, 2011 Written by Annemarie Solon

At CenterPoint on February 16, 2011 about two dozen people gathered to hear more details regarding the proposed Voluntary Registration for Massage and Bodywork bill.The presentation was given by Jeremy E. Miller, Chair of the Alliance for Licensing Massage Therapists (ALMT).Over the course of 2.5 hours a lot of material was presented and many questions from the audience were addressed.

The bill would create a protected title of "Registered Massage and Bodywork Therapist" abbreviated "RMBT."Registration would beCOMPLETELY VOLUNTARY.Those who choose to register under the law would be allowed to call themselves RMBTs, would no longer be subject to city licensing requirements and would no longer be covered by Minnesota's CAP law (commonly referred to as the CAM law).Those who choose not to register could not call themselves RMBTs, would continue to be subject to municipal licensing laws and would continue to be covered by the CAP law.Bottom line: those not registering would see no change to the way they are able to practice.

Again, this bill would be for VOLUNTARY registration only. All four of our neighboring states (Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota) have mandatory state-level credentialing.However, it is unlikely that Minnesota would ever move to mandatory registration because our lawmakers are reluctant to change existing laws unless several years' worth of well-collected data shows a compelling need for the change.In other words, if significantly more complaints were made to the state regarding unregistered practitioners than regarding registered practitioners, over a period of years, then lawmakers might consider changing the law in order to protect public safety.

Requirements for becoming an RMBT would include: age 18 years or older; holding a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent; passing a criminal background check; current certification in CPR/First Aid; and professional liability insurance covering $1 million per incident.CURRENT practitioners could be grandfathered in with ONE of the following additional requirements: 500 hours of education/training shown by school records; passing an approved exam shown by a record of completion; work experience covering 2 of the past 5 years documented by tax records and/or appointment books; documented membership for 2 of the past 5 years in a national professional bodywork organization.For those entering practice after the law is enacted, the additional requirements would include BOTH proof of 500 hours of education/training and passing an approved competency exam.

Oversight of RMBT credentialing would be handled by the MN Board of Nursing (MBN).The MBN agreed to do this on the condition that RMBTs would create no extra work for them. Therefore, decisions will be made by an Advisory Committee, then passed on to the MBN for minimal review and final approval.The Advisory Committee would be appointed by the MBN and consist of 3 RMBTs and 2 members of the general public.The Advisory Committee would decide which exams would be approved for registration, examine criminal background checks on a case-by-case basis, and handle complaints against RMBTs and decide on any disciplinary actions to be taken, among many other things.This could be considered an advantage for RMBTs because complaints would be reviewed by peers in the bodywork profession, whereas under the current CAP law (aka CAM law), complaints are reviewed by a state employee with no experience in the profession.

Fees for registration would include a one-time initial fee of $100 and an annual fee of $185.These fees were determined by a conservative estimate of 1500 practitioners becoming RBMTs within the first 5 years in order to pay back the state for start-up costs.Jeremy Miller was very optimistic about getting a much greater number to register, in which case fees would be lowered. The ALMT is currently surveying MN cities about their regulations and licensing fees.Of the 68 cities identified so far as requiring licensing fees, the average annual amount is $315. Compare that amount to the voluntary registration fees of $285 the first year and $185 each following year, providing coverage in any and all cities in Minnesota.

When might these changes actually happen?ALMT has a possible timeline which is described as an "optimistic, best guess." According to the timeline, if the bill passes in this session ending in July 2011, then from approximately August 2011 to September 2012 the Advisory Council will be appointed and will go through a "rule-making process."This process would be public, with forums for input from the community on questions such as which exams would be accepted to qualify for registration.Then, in October 2012, practitioners could pay their registration fees and get their RMBT certificates.

As of February 16, the bill had not yet been presented to the House of Representatives.Once it has been presented to the House, it will be available for reading by the public on the Legislature's website at http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/legis.aspx

This article obviously does not include every point from the presentation. Visit the Alliance website at www.almtmn.org o find a FAQ section about the proposed bill, and -- hopefully soon -- the handout given at the Town Hall Meeting will also be available as a PDF on the website. Jeremy Miller can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 612-483-5858. Please contact any of the AOBTA® MN board members with questions about this proposed bill at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or their personal contacts, given near the top of the newsletter.

For those who are in support of this state voluntary registration, you may join the Alliance and receive emails regarding how to support the effort (no money will ever be requested) atwww.almtmn.org , or, CenterPoint will be providing information on a regular basis, so be sure to be on the CenterPoint email list for legislation information by calling Janine Deters, Graduate Services Manager, at 952-562-5200, ext 224 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it