ATTENTION ALL REIKI PRACTITIONERS
A hearing date, OCTOBER 28TH, has been announced for Mass bill S 168
“An Act Regulating Bodyworks.” The fate of Reiki in Massachusetts
will be decided on that date. If this bill were to pass, it would
become ILLEGAL for you to practice Reiki without a license. LICENSES
ARE EXPENSIVE AND YOU WOULD NEED TO START YOUR EDUCATION AGAIN FROM
SCRATCH. WE NEED YOUR HELP TO STOP THIS HORRIBLE BILL! Not enough
practitioners have taken the time to contact their legislators. It is
CRUCIAL FOR YOU TO ACT NOW. EVERYONE COUNTS. LEGISLATORS NEED TO
HEAR FROM YOU NOW. THE FATE OF REIKI IS IN YOUR HANDS.
Hearing Date: Monday, October 28
Hearing Time: 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Hearing Location: Gardiner Auditorium
Boston State House
24 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02133
What YOU Can Do To Help SAVE REIKI in Massachusetts
Attend the Public Hearing and give support to the individuals
testifying. (We need a very large crowd to attend to show a strong
opposition) Give oral testimony which is limited to three minutes
in length in opposition to S.168. (See attached Giving Testimony
Instructions and Testimony Worksheet) Prepare written testimony
and submit it at the Public Hearing Prepare written testimony and
email it to the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and
Professional Licensure (email addresses below):
S.168 Summary:
S.168 is a bill that has been filed in the Massachusetts legislature
by Senator Montigny under the guise of a solution to end human
trafficking. The bill, if passed, would require professional
licensure for more than 200 alternative and complementary holistic
modalities, and offers no direct route to licensure. In addition,
S.168 would dramatically reduce healthcare options for the citizens
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The bill redefines holistic healthcare occupations as bodywork and
affects all modalities that direct movement or work with energy. The
bill proposes a Board of Massage Therapy and Bodywork that would have
3 massage therapists and two bodywork professionals on it. These two
body workers would have to set the educational requirements of more
than 200 holistic disciplines. In addition, you can only become
licensed if you take courses at state licensed schools. There are
currently no state licensed schools that offer courses in the
majority of these disciplines.
Sample Email Testimony
Date:
Subject: Please Oppose S.168
To: The Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional
Licensure, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Re: Opposition to S.168 “An Act Regulating Bodyworks”
Dear Chair Feeney, Chair Chan, and Members of the Committee:
I am a Reiki practitioner and I reside in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts.
I urge you to oppose S.168. I have great concerns about how this bill
will affect my livelihood, profession and holistic healthcare
choices. Under this bill, Reiki practitioners and teachers would be
required to become licensed body workers, and the bill provides no
direct path to licensure. There are no state licensed schools that
teach Reiki. In addition, it requires licensure fees, which would
hurt me financially.
(Include a personal story. Say why the issue is important to you and
how it affects you, your family member and your community. This is
extremely important. These personal stories resonate with
legislators.
(You can complete your letter with statements from the “issues” list
below)
Please vote against S.168.
I would greatly appreciate a response. Thank you for your time and
consideration of my concerns.
Sincerely,
[Your name and credentials
Street address
City, State, Zip code
Phone
Email
Issues List S.168 would arbitrarily and inaccurately redefine
hundreds of holistic occupations as bodywork. The broad definition of
bodywork affects more than 200 diverse disciplines and professions
and many thousands of practitioners (many of whom are women) who now
provide for their families working in this field. Due to the
restrictive standards set forth in the bill, many will be forced to
close their doors, adversely impacting their household and children
and increasing unemployment claims. S.168 would dramatically reduce
citizen options for tens of thousands infringing on freedom of choice
The proposed board of massage therapy and bodyworkers only
has 2 bodyworkers to represent more than 200 holistic professions You
can only become licensed if you take courses at state licensed
schools There are no state licensed schools that offer training in
all these disciplines The state does not have the expertise to set
the curriculum of more than 200 disciplines Two representative body
workers on the proposed board would not have the expertise to set the
curriculum of more than 200 disciplines The requirements of this bill
will take away the professions of many individuals (practicing and
teaching) the more than 200 diverse disciplines and cause financial
burdens and hardships to thousands and thousands of families, putting
many citizens on unemployment Bodywork licensure is not a viable
approach to addressing human trafficking: Contrary to the
Massachusetts Interagency Human Trafficking Policy Task Force
recommendations, S.168 seeks to reduce human trafficking supply
through occupational licensure rather than reducing the demand for
human trafficking through enforcement of existing “John laws” or the
promulgation of sensible new laws. Occupational licensing has not
been recommended in the Uniform Act on Prevention of and Remedies for
Human Trafficking drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners
on Uniform State Laws in 2013; or by the US Department of State (see
’15 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking’} The National Human
Trafficking database reports only 4 cases of human trafficking in
Massachusetts at illicit massage spas. There is no accurate data on
the number of human trafficking cases at illicit massage spas in MA
as many counties combine prostitution cases with human trafficking
cases when reporting data.
Email addresses of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and
Professional Licensure:
paul.feeney@masenate.gov ; Tackey.Chan@mahouse.gov ;
James.Welch@masenate.gov ;Jay.Livingstone@mahouse.gov ;
Diana.DiZoglio@masenate.gov ; Barry.Finegold@masenate.gov ;
Joseph.Boncore@masenate.gov ;
Ryan.Fattman@masenate.gov ; Jon.Zlotnik@mahouse.gov ;
Adrian.Madaro@mahouse.gov ; William.Driscoll@mahouse.gov ;
mindy.domb@mahouse.gov ;tami.gouveia@mahouse.gov ;
david.leboeuf@mahouse.gov ; Jack.Lewis@mahouse.gov ;
Steven.Howitt@mahouse.gov ;
joseph.mckenna@mahouse.gov
You may also include the bill sponsors:
Mark.Montigny@masenate.gov ; ago@state.ma.us ;
Alicia.Rebello-Pradas@state.ma.us ;Patricia.Haddad@mahouse.gov ;
Michael.Moore@masenate.gov ; Jason.Lewis@masenate.gov ;
Danielle.Gregoire@mahouse.gov ; Antonio.Cabral@mahouse.gov ;
david.robertson@mahouse.gov ;Steven.Ultrino@mahouse.gov ;
Patrick.OConnor@masenate.gov ; Mike.Barrett@masenate.gov ;
Becca.Rausch@masenate.gov ; Walter.Timilty@masenate.gov ;
Sal.DiDomenico@masenate.gov ;Joan.Lovely@masenate.gov ;
james.hawkins@mahouse.gov
Thank you for your time and support.
Blessings,
Lourdes
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