THOUGHTS ON SB 387 A Legislative Proposal to Require Oregon LMT’s to Obtain a Facility Permit.

Ray Siderius, Director, Oregon School of Massage (Portland and Salem).

Recently the Oregon Senate Comittee on Health Care and Human Services conducted a hearing on this proposal. I understand that the Committee proposed some changes which would exempt more LMT’s than the original version. As of 3:00 pm, February 22 those changes had not been posted on the state’s website.

That being the case, my thoughts are in reference to the legislation as it is currently posted (view at SB 387). While amendments may change my thinking about the legislation I would contend that most of points I make in this article would probably apply to the proposal in a revised form.

Background
According to a January 17, 2013 posting on the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists the proposed Senate Bill 387 will require massage facilities to obtain a “facility permit,” with the intent of exercising more effective control over illegal and/or unsanitary practices. In its current form the proposal would require facility permits for all facilities except therapists working out of their home.

I regret to report that the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists has not made a clear case for how this measure would effectively address their concerns, nor have they done a need assessment with any data as to the extent of the concerns which they identify as sanitation and illicit practices. Neither have they outlined the practical considerations of implementing such a measure. A need assessment would include at least an estimate of how many law-abiding therapists this would impact. (Given that there are several thousand licensed therapists in Oregon this could easily impact over a thousand LMT’s in Oregon.)

Rationale for Concern
As a school and an active members of the profession we too are concerned about the issues such as sanitation and illicit massage practices. Regarding the sanitation, the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists already has the statutory authority to inspect massage premises (ORS 687.123) and discipline violators; they also have the authority to prohibit unlawful practices of massage (ORS 687.021 Practice of massage without license prohibited; injunction against violation.)

I would presume, and have heard informal comments, that Board members and staff are frustrated by their inability to close some of the facilities which conduct illicit business. One of their complaints is that those businesses harboring illegal activities, which are subject to the above provisions of the statute (ORS 687), pay the fines that the Board levies and then move on, starting up in another location. Another complaint is that the Board and law enforcement agencies often do not have the resources to aggressively investigate and prosecute these violations.

Interestingly, there appears to be little in the proposed “facility permit” provisions which would change that process. The permit requirement would give the Board a different “stick” with which to whack (i.e., fine) the violator, not a better “stick.” The point is we do not need to add “sticks” which do not have a substantive regulatory benefit, to the Board’s arsenal…especially when adding that new “stick” adds considerably to the cost of doing legitimate business.

Another point to consider is the application of the proposed provision. If you put this measure into effect you add complications and extra work to the duties of an already short staffed Board and police agencies with limited resources…without additional benefit. Adding more chores/bureaucracy will hinder attention being given to the more effective, existing measures referred to below.

Human trafficking, which is one component of some illegal practices of concern to the profession, is an abominable violation of human life. The traffickers should be convicted and incarcerated, not merely fined. I would urge the Board to put its effort into informing licensees, and the public, engaging their support in identifying violators so that truly effective measures can be brought to bear.

An article in the Jan-Feb 2013 issue of Massage & Bodywork outlines a more direct approach…use the laws which are already in place. The article cites the Trafficking Victims Protective Act of 2000 (TVPA) as one of those effective measures, and reports that the FBI’s “Operation Cross Country” has resulted in 1,107 convictions of traffickers.

Our school is supportive of efforts to address both sanitation and illegal practices; we are willing to be a part of reasonable efforts to do so. In that this legislation adds considerable process and cost to the legitimate practice of a valuable healthcare service, when viable measures exist to more directly address the stated concerns, I argue that SB 387 is more, and not smarter, government.

Respectfully submitted.

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