For those who pay attention to only the national news, it is
easy to think that government micromanagement of other peoples
business is largely a Beltway phenomenon. Would that it were so.
Unfortunately, state governments do more than their share of
meddling where they shouldn’t, even out here in the Heartland. In
this year’s legislative session, Iowa legislators added to what
must be an “essential” government function, the regulation of
massage therapy.
The bill in question was House File (HF) 204 which was
introduced by the Committee on State Government, passed by the
State Legislature, and signed into law by Governor Tom Vilsack.
Specifically, HF 204 instructs the Iowa Department of Public Health
to:
conduct a study regarding the modalities associated with
massage therapy. The study shall be conducted with the input of
licensed massage therapists, reflexologists, and unlicensed persons
practicing modalities related to massage therapy. The objective of
the study shall be to determine which modalities shall be included
under the definition of massage therapy and require licensure, and
shall include, but not be limited to, a recommendation regarding
the licensure of reflexologists.
It would be easy to conclude that this amounts to government
micromanagement and regulation gone wild. However, this bill
actually deregulates massage therapy. A massage therapist
is not subject to state licensure requirements for one year if his
or her “professional practice does not incorporate aspects that
constitute massage therapy as defined by section 152C.1” of the
state code. That section of the state code defines massage therapy
as:
performance for compensation of massage, myotherapy,
massotherapy, bodywork, bodywork therapy, or therapeutic massage
including hydrotherapy, superficial hot and cold applications,
vibration and topical applications, or other therapy which involves
manipulation of the muscle and connective tissue, to treat the
muscle tonus system for the purpose of enhancing health, muscle
relaxation, increasing range of motion, reducing stress, relieving
pain, or improving circulation.
Does your massage therapist fall under that definition? And,
more importantly, do you care?
Of course massage therapy is not the only profession in which
the state of Iowa sticks its tentacles. It also has licensure
requirements for accountants, athletic trainers, behavioral
scientists, barbers, cosmetologists, dieticians, hearing aid
dealers, landscape architects, and real estate appraisers. Although
the cost to taxpayers for most of this is negligible since the
licensure fees fund the various examining boards, this sort of
regulation costs Iowans in another way. The licensure requirements
reduce competition in these professions by making it more difficult
for people to enter them. Reduced competition results in higher
prices for consumers. Unfortunately, Iowa consumers will likely see
more of this in the not too distant future. The following is a list
of bills that did not make it out of the State Legislature this
year, but will probably return in a future legislative session:
House File 217: Introduced by State
Representative James Hahn, this bill increases, from ten to twelve,
the number of months of instruction for barbers’ apprentices. It
also requires apprentices to take courses in “law,” “ethics,” and
“the history of barbering.”
House File 286: You thought that the existing
regulations for barbers and cosmetologists were enough? Then you
must be unaware that the law contains a loophole for “press and
curl technicians.” HF 286, introduced by State Representative Don
Shoultz, remedies this problem by requiring press and curl
technicians to be licensed by the State Board of
Cosmetologists.
House File 605: Proposed by the House Committee
on State Government, this bill creates a state examining board for
interior decorators. The board will proctor an examination for all
interior decorators wishing to be registered with the state, and
impose a fee on decorators who take the examination. Any interior
decorator who falsely uses the title of “registered” will be guilty
of a simple misdemeanor. Iowans can all sleep easier at night
knowing that the state government is protecting us from fraudulent
interior decorators.
House Study Bill 129: Proposed by State
Representative Jeff Elgin, this bill cracks down on unlicensed
athletic trainers by increasing the penalty from “simple
misdemeanor” to “serious misdemeanor.”
Senate File 122: SF 122 requires the Department
of Cultural Affairs to “develop an application and review process
for the annual designation of a community theater as a ‘state of
Iowa theater.’” Proposed by State Senators Joe Bolkcom and Mike
Connolly, it requires the Governor to designate a state theater of
Iowa for a period of one year. But why stop with a state theater?
In the spirit of the above legislation, we should also designate a
state styling salon, a state barber shop, perhaps even a state
massage parlor.
With all the nutty legislation that comes out of Washington, it
is tempting to believe that “good people” go to D.C. only to become
infected with Potomac fever. Perhaps that’s one way of looking at
it. Or, perhaps, they were running a temperature before they left
home.
