Kristina Roegner, State Senator — Sponsor Testimony, Senate Bill 56 (October 10th, 2023)

Summary

State Senator Kristina Roegner gave sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 56 to the Ohio House Commerce and Labor Committee on October 10th, 2023. The bill would join Ohio to the Interstate Massage Compact, an interstate occupational licensure compact for massage therapists, and passed the Senate by a unanimous 33-0 vote in September. The testimony says the compact takes effect when seven states enact enabling legislation and names Washington, Nebraska, Georgia and Nevada as states that have introduced legislation, with Nevada's SB161 signed by Governor Lombardo in June. It cites over 11,000 massage therapy professionals based in Ohio.

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Kristina Roegner
State Senator
27th Senate District

                                                  Sponsor Testimony
                                                Senate Bill 56
                                   Ohio House Commerce and Labor Committee
                                               October 10th, 2023

Chair Johnson, Vice-Chair Manchester, Ranking Member McNally, and Members of
the House Commerce and Labor Committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide
sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 56, which upon enactment would join Ohio to the
“Interstate Massage Compact.” Senate Bill 56 passed the Senate by unanimous 33-0
vote in September.

The Interstate Massage Compact (“IMpact”) is an interstate occupational licensure
compact for massage therapists. As this committee knows, an interstate compact is a
contract among two or more states which creates an agreement on a particular policy
issue, allowing them to cooperate on regional or national matters. 1 States joining the
“IMpact” agree to recognize a license issued by another compact member state,
thereby allowing a professional to practice in the “remote state” without having to go
through each individual state’s licensure process.

The “IMpact” is similar in form and function to other compacts the legislature has
considered, in that a massage therapist must hold an active, unencumbered license in
a compact member state to be eligible to apply for compact privileges and obtain a
multistate license. These practitioners must also pass a background check and meet
other eligibility requirements related to education and examinations. From a
regulatory standpoint, there are no changes to each compact member state’s authority
to protect public health and safety through the existing state regulatory structure – a
licensee practicing under compact privilege must abide by the laws, regulations and
rules for the state in which they are located. 2 To summarize “IMpact allows massage
therapists who maintain an active, unencumbered license in the compact member state
where they reside to apply for a multistate license. After verifying eligibility, the
1
    https://compacts.csg.org/compact-updates/massage-therapy/
2
    Lines 205-259 of SB56 As Introduced
massage therapist is granted a multistate license which authorizes practice in
all other compact member states. The massage therapist must maintain their “home
state” license in good standing.”3

The “IMpact” is still in its formative stage, with a stakeholder group forming in 2021
and gathering feedback throughout 2022. This group consisted of industry
representatives from multiple states, including the Ohio Chapter of the American
Massage Therapy Association, the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards
(FSMTB), the Department of Defense (DOD) and others to develop model language.
Model language was released in late 2022 and, similar to other compacts, stipulates
that the IMpact will take effect when seven states enact enabling legislation.4 Ohio’s
massage therapy industry worked proactively during the development process of this
compact, and it would be wonderful if we could be one of the first seven to enact the
bill in order to keep that seat at the table.

Four other states have
introduced legislation to join
the “IMpact” (Washington,
Nebraska,     Georgia     and
Nevada),    with     Nevada’s
SB161 being signed by
Governor Lombardo in June.56

The lack of occupational
licensure reciprocity is a real
barrier for individuals seeking
to move across state lines.
Researchers at the University
of Minnesota found that the
interstate migration rate for individuals in occupations with state-specific licensing
exam requirements is 36% lower relative to those in non-licensed occupations.7

3
  https://massagecompact.org/faq/
4
  Lines 928-929 of SB56 As Introduced
5
  https://massagecompact.org/compact-map/
6
  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/82nd2023/Reports/history.cfm?ID=626
7
  https://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/sr/sr561.pdf
The IMpact also makes life easier for military families, by allowing the service
member or their spouse to continue to work with their current compact privilege if
the military family is assigned to a new duty station in a compact member state.

Overall, the IMpact will support military families, improve access to and continuity
of care for Ohio residents, and increase license portability for the over 11,000
massage therapy professionals based in the Buckeye State 8, while maintaining the
current high level of care.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I would be happy to answer any
questions at this time.




8
    https://med.ohio.gov/Publications/Annual-Report


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