HB 110-MASSAGE THERAPY LICENSING; EXEMPTIONS  4:18:35 PM CHAIR KITO announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 110, "An Act relating to the practice of massage therapy; relating to the Board of Massage Therapists; and providing for an effective date." 4:19:00 PM The committee took a brief at-ease. 4:19:21 PM REPRESENTATIVE WOOL moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 110, labeled 30-LS0157\U, Radford, 2/9/18, as the working draft. CHAIR KITO objected for discussion purposes. 4:19:36 PM CRYSTAL KOENEMAN, Staff, Representative Sam Kito, Alaska State Legislature, reviewed the changes contained in Version U of HB 110. First, on page 1, a new section was inserted that modifies the language regarding the qualifications of the public member for the Board of Massage Therapists by removing the restriction of being a former member of another occupational licensing board. This recommendation was also mentioned in the state's Legislative Audit Division, [Audit 08-20109-17], Audit Recommendation three, she said. MS. KOENEMAN reported the second change, noting that Version U removes all language regarding an application for exemption for those currently in the exception category under Alaska Statute (AS) 08.61.080, which relates to energy workers, reflexologists, and structural integrators. She said with that change Version U would only apply to licensure of massage therapists under AS 08.61]. The final change is in Section 4 of Version U, which amends the standards of license renewal by changing the annual fingerprint requirement from every renewal cycle to once every six years or every three licensing cycles. 4:21:19 PM CHAIR KITO removed his objection. There being no further objection, Version U was adopted as the working document. 4:22:43 PM GRETCHEN GRAEFF, Massage Therapist and Rolfer, shared her concerns with the proposed bill. She said she was unclear why the board has been slow to require infection control in its safety education requirements. She previously testified on this last year, noting this change was recommended at previous board meetings. She expressed concern that the board refers to last century's recommendations instead of more current ones. An additional concern was that the issue of massage therapy establishments has distracted the board from regulating the practice of massage therapy. She added that the current Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice are ambiguous and confusing. The interpretation by licensed massage therapists of the Health Insurance Privacy and Portability Act (HIPPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are broad, occasionally inaccurate, and quite varied throughout the state. MS. GRAEFF added that at the board's December 2017 meeting, the board had stated, "The standards of practice are currently a recommendation and do not have a disciplinary matrix." It was time that was put in place, although it may be possible that it already is, she said. That was problematic, she said, given the letter from David Edward Smith, who advised that massage therapists must adhere to the standards of practice and code of ethics in our state. She said that the biggest concern was for the licensing of businesses in the state. The implication of the board needing to help law enforcement by having a massage therapy establishment indicates that currently, unless a business in Alaska is under the regulation of a professional board, that business may sell illegal services. She was unsure if that is true. MS. GRAEFF said that if the board is going to recognize the Board of Massage's jurisdiction to the regulation of massage establishments to help law enforcement with trafficking, sexual assault, and exploitation, she would like this committee to recognize these potential crimes are more extensive than the nefarious use of her profession as a front. She lauded the work by the board for regulations for governing the licensing of massage therapists. Since the massage therapists are in their third year of licensure, the standards should be clear, she said. She offered her belief that the law enforcement issues are large enough to be concerned at the business licensing level, she said. She was unsure why law enforcement could not stop prostitution advertising as massage services when the licensing requirement governing massage therapists is in place. 4:28:47 PM TRACI GILMOUR, Owner, TLC Massage Therapy; Member, Board of Massage Therapists, Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (DCBPL), Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED), as a licensee, stated her support for the proposed committee substitute for HB 110. She emphasized that increased continuing education hours and licensure has created better consumer expectations for massage. Therapists can coordinate better with medical professionals to serve clients and provide a better course of treatment for clients. Massage therapists are learning to network with outside agencies and better represent their professions in working with state, local, and federal law enforcement. She added that licensure for massage therapists, as well as requiring fingerprinting for background checks can help stop human trafficking. She fully supported the decrease in continuing education for the bloodborne pathogens since it has been difficult to find providers for a four-hour course. She added that reducing the burden of fingerprinting to once every third renewal period reduces costs to licensees. She offered her support for the proposed CS for HB 110. 4:31:42 PM REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked about board regulation of establishments. He said it was difficult to understand previous testimony; however, he recalled that some businesses engaging in illegal activity would be easier to identify and monitor if the [legitimate] massage therapy businesses had physical licenses on their premises. MS. GILMOUR agreed. She identified a professional massage business in Anchorage that has been cited four times for illegal activity. Since businesses are not licensed, it is difficult to determine if the business is providing legitimate services. Although not required to do so, she posts her professional license and puts her license number on all correspondence. Without investigations, the [illegal] businesses can operate. She said she supports professional business licenses for massage therapists; however, she would like to keep licensure costs low. 4:33:37 PM REPRESENTATIVE SULLIVAN-LEONARD asked whether bloodborne pathogen training is available at hospitals or the [American] Red Cross. MS. GILMOUR said that the new exam would be administered through massage therapist schools, but continuing education could be online or available as part of a first aid course. She explained that it has been difficult to obtain four-hour online courses in bloodborne pathogens. In further response to Representative Sullivan-Leonard, she said it was difficult to find the four-hour courses. CHAIR KITO stated that the initial training was available to massage therapists; however, for renewal purposes, two-hour courses were available in first aid courses, but it was more difficult to find four-hour courses. 4:35:33 PM VOLKER HRUBY, President, American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), Alaska Chapter, stated that he is a life-long Alaskan who has been a massage therapist for 13 years in the spa industry, medical massage, and in private practice. The AMTA, Alaska Chapter, represents many massage therapists in Alaska. and offers its support of the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 110. The new version of the bill [Version U] requires massage boards to adopt regulations governing massage therapy establishments in addition to individual therapists. He offered his belief that this would give the state the authority to shut down operations of human trafficking and prostitution activities by those who use massage therapy as a front. In addition, the proposed bill would increase the minimum course of study for licensure from 500 to 625 hours, which represents the current national minimum standard. It would also reduce the requirement of safety education for bloodborne pathogens from four to two hours as recommended by the national standard. Finally, the proposed bill would change the requirement for fingerprinting every six years instead of every two years. The enabling legislation established the Board of Massage Therapists, statutes, and requirements for licensure of massage therapists almost four years ago. Thus, the need for minor adjustments to licensure has arisen. He urged members to move this bill from committee. 4:37:50 PM LAUREN PAAP, President, American Organization for Bodywork Therapy of Asia (AOBTA), stated that she represents Asian Bodywork therapists, such as shiatsu, acupressure, amma or qigong. She asked for clarification on whether her members, if not exempted would have been required to pay a fee. She further asked if her group was required to be licensed under the proposed CS for HB 110. CHAIR KITO said that portion of the bill was removed and is not in the current CSHB 110, {Version U]. MS. PAAP referenced whether there was an intent to include Asian bodywork members in the future. If so, she had specific questions. CHAIR KITO assured Ms. Papp that the only bill before the committee was the current committee substitute for HB 110, [Version U], that includes three changes to licensing of massage therapists. MS. PAAP directed attention to the provision that requires 625 hours. CHAIR KITO asked her to limit questions to the bill version before the committee and to contact his staff for discussion questions. MS. PAAP offered to do so. 4:40:25 PM CHAIR KITO closed public testimony on HB 110. 4:40:44 PM REPRESENTATIVE WOOL moved to report the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 110, Version 30-LS0157\U, Radford, 2/9/18, out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, the CSHB 110(L&C) was reported from the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.