Minnesota

Senate File 1074 and House File 1275 would have required statewide licensure for massage therapists and Asian bodywork therapists in Minnesota. However, they were not assigned a committee hearing in this legislative session, so they are done for the year.

Senate File 1074 and House File 1275 have been introduced in the Minnesota legislature and would require statewide licensure for massage therapists and Asian bodywork therapists.

RE: Information regarding your state's back-to-practice permission date and safety guidelines to minimize risk of exposure to, and spread of, COVID-19 in the workplace. 

ABMP, ASCP, AHP, and ANP have summarized below how COVID-19 has impacted Minnesota, from executive orders affecting business closures, to reopening protocols modifying practice procedures, to financial programs developed to aid the unemployed.

Senators in Minnesota are reviewing Senate File 696 (SF 696), a bill that would allow eyelash technicians and salons that solely provide eyelash extensions to operate without being licensed.

Minnesota is one of the few remaining states that does not license or certify massage therapists. Last spring, we sent you a survey asking if you like the current system of local (city or town) licensure, or would prefer a uniform statewide system regulating massage therapists. Thank you to those of you who participated in the survey. As expected, some survey respondents support statewide licensure, while some do not. 

A new bill introduced in the Minnesota legislature, HF 884 proposes to change the way that the massage therapy profession is taxed in the state.

To clarify our recent Minnesota legislative update, although HF 644 and SF 1310, the proposed voluntary state credentialing bills for massage therapists, failed in the Minnesota state legislature, Minnesota Statute 146A, which has been the law in Minnesota for over 15 years, remains in place.

The Minnesota voluntary credentialing bill for massage therapists failed in the state legislature. The bill, House File 644, along with companion bill Senate File 1310,  sought to create a voluntary massage therapy credential in the state which would have allowed massage therapists to register with the state as a “Registered Massage and Bodywork Therapist,&rdquo

As mentioned in our prior update, the Minnesota voluntary credentialing bill for massage therapists did not pass last year.  However, the bill will be considered again this year in the Minnesota House of Representatives as House File 644, along with companion bill Senate File 1310. Representative Nick Zerwas is the chief author of HF 644 and there are over 25 co-authors.

If passed, the bill would: