In this fourth blog post In WSMTA’s series about the Interstate Massage Compact, we wanted to discuss more about what Washington State could do about the Compact. If you have yet to visit our Compact Web page we would highly encourage you to do so after reading this blog.  Also, if you did not read the prior blogs, you can review them at:

Before we get started, here are several reminders:

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Here are the four ways WSMTA perceives that Washington could proceed with the Compact: 

1. Join the Compact now as one of the first 7 states:

   1. Why Washington would want to join now:

      • Believe Washington could influence the Commission: Washington residents would have to believe they could influence the Compact Commission to make rules that would create the following controls:

        • Manage legal and regulatory change: Put controls in that would allow Member States and the Compact to know which Remote States LMTs would work in prior to the start of their beginning to work there. This would allow states to inform Multistate Licensees when there are law and regulatory changes and to provide better monitoring for disciplinary issues.

        • Administer a jurisprudence exam: Put in controls that would allow states to administer jurisprudence exams, should they want to, to ensure that massage therapists traveling to Washington know our laws and regulations before working here. This would protect the public, reduce the liability for Multistate Licensees and keep the licensing fees lower for resident LMTs.  The state, where a disciplinary issue occurs, bears the expense of bringing a case against multistate licensees who have violated laws and regulations which directly impacts state licensing fees if disciplinary expenses raise quicker than what is budgeted.

        • Protect professionalism and the public in Washington: Ensure the safety of the general public and protect the  professionalism of massage therapy in Washington State.

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      • Civilian population ease of working in other states: The Compact would make it easier for some massage therapists to work in other states – a reminder that a massage therapist still has to maintain residence in their home state as well as acquire lodging and pay for transporting their goods to where they would work in other states.

      • Military Spouse ease of moving to work in other states: The Compact would make it easier for military spouses to obtain jobs across the country (as of May 2023 there were at least 72 military spouses who are licensed as LMTs in Washington).

      
      

   2. What Issues would Washington have to circumvent to make joining it worthwhile for Washington LMTs:

      • Strong Delegate Skills: The Washington Delegate to the Compact Commission would have to have both strong negotiating skills and be in agreement with what needs to happen instead of following the FSMTB party line which has argued for the totally free movement of massage therapists without controls in place.

        • Suggestion about Delegates: WSMTA suggests that should Washington join the Compact in the early stages of developing Compact Commission Rules that it should send both the Executive Director (or other Department of Health designee) and a Board of Massage professional member so that they can both bring their strengths and perspectives. This way our profession is better represented. Only one of these people would be the official delegate and would be able to vote, but together, they would offer the best solutions, especially when it comes to the qualifications for a Multistate Licensee.

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      • Washington has to convince 6 other states to fix issues: Washington would have to convince the other 6 Member Delegates to the initial Commission meetings to vote its way to pass rules requiring all Multistate Licensees to register all places of business or employers outside of their Home State with the Compact, this would enable each Remote State, should they choose, the ability to:

        • Manage legal and regulatory change: Know who may be working in their state so any legal and regulatory changes can be provided to Compact Licensees working in their states.

        • Provide a Jurisprudence exam: Administer a jurisprudence exam to Multistate Licensees who indicate they intend to work in their state.  To be effective, this exam would have to be administered before an LMT has begun working in a Remote State.  If they took the exam after they were already working in a Remote State, they could potentially be prohibited from continuing to work in that state if they can not pass the exam. Ideally, the exam should be administered prior to an LMT working in a new state in case there is an issue in their taking the exam.

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      • Washington has to convince 6 states on issues related to professionalism and protecting the public: Washington would have to convince the other 6 Member Delegates to the initial Commission meetings to vote its way to pass rules regarding the content of 625 educational hours, and other issues, along with the above requirements to check in to help protect the professionalism and reputation of massage therapists in Washington as well as to protect the public.

      
      

   3. What are the outcomes that could happen if Washington is one of the first seven states to join the Compact?

      • Rolling the dice on outcome: Washington would likely get some of what it wants in Commission Rulemaking, but not likely all it wants. Other states have much different priorities than Washington does as massage is treated as a personal service in many states.  There is absolutely no way to predict what would happen in this scenario, it would be a complete roll of the dice that joining the Compact would be helpful to Washington LMTs.

      • Compact Rules would significantly impact state’s if a state joins: The Compact Commission has a lot of authority to do as they wish, and these Rules they create will have the same force in Washington as our Washington Administrative Code does (WAC). Do we, as a profession/state, want to give away that authority/power when we have no idea what Rules will be written?

      • If the outcome is not good for Washington, withdrawing might not be possible: If we join the Compact hoping to help create Commission Rules in a way that benefits our state and other states as we have described above and we cannot get what we want, it could be very difficult to withdraw.

        • The Washington State Legislature would have to create a statute repealing the law it created to enact the Compact.  Legislators who helped to create the legislation to join Washington in the Interstate Massage Compact may not be willing to repeal it.

        • Or there could be other lobbyists that have stronger influence than massage therapists to keep us in the Compact.  The nurses in Washington were forced to join the Nurse Licensure Compact against their will by a stronger lobbyist group, the same could occur to keep our state in, if massage therapists wanted out.

   
   

2. Join the Compact later:

   1. Why would Washington want to join later?

      • Washingtonians believe that they would not convince enough Commission delegates to vote their way in setting up the Commission Rules to make it worth joining.  Washington may join later if the Rules change.

      • The Compact does not offer a great enough benefit to offset the negatives and may choose to join at a later time.

      • Washington may remain out of the Compact initially, while still trying to influence the initial Compact Commission Delegates who do set up the initial Compact and join later if the Rules change enough to make it worth Washington joining.

      
      

   2. Discuss the issues that our state would have to circumvent to make the option happen:

      • Washington does have to watch the legislative processes to make sure that some other lobby group does not try to enter Washington into the Compact against the will of massage therapists.  This is what happened to the Washington nurses, they were forced to join the Compact by a lobbyist group stronger than theirs.

      
      

   3. What are the outcomes that could happen?

      • At the least, Washington has to do nothing to remain outside of the Compact.

      • At the most, Washington may have to fight off lobbyists of other interest groups that want Washington to join the Compact when Washington is not ready.

      • At the most, it would have to activate legislators to join the Compact at some time in the future should the Commission Rules offer a favorable environment for Washington to join.

   
   

3. Not join the Compact:

   1. Why would Washington choose to not join the Compact?

      • Washingtonians believe that they would not convince enough Commission delegates to vote their way in setting up the Commission Rules to make it worth joining.

      • The Compact does not offer a great enough benefit to offset the negatives.

      
      

   2. Discuss the issues that our state would have to circumvent to make the option happen:

      • Washington does have to watch the legislative processes to make sure that some other lobby group does not try to enter Washington into the Compact against the will of massage therapists.  This is what happened to the Washington nurses, they were forced to join the Compact by a lobbyist group stronger than theirs.

      
      

   3. What are the outcomes that could happen?

      • At the least, Washington remains outside of the Compact.

      • At the most, Washington may have to fight off lobbyists of other interest groups that want Washington to join the Compact.

   
   

4. Modify the Model Language prior to 7 states ratifying the Compact Model Legislative Language and activating the Compact.

   1. Why would Washington want to Modify the Model Language?

      • By modifying the Compact Legislative Model Language and activating the Compact with the modified Legislative Language, Washington could join the Compact knowing that the issues that exist with the Compact are resolved, prior to joining, instead of taking a chance that it could resolve them after joining the Compact.

      
      

   2. Discuss the issues that our state would have to circumvent to make the option happen:

      • At the time of publication there is one state that has passed the existing Compact Model Legislative Language and there are 3 that are at different stages of having their state legislatures review the Compact Model Legislative Language for approval.

      • To make this option happen, LMTs would need to volunteer to support efforts to talk with other states, to convince them to modify  the Compact Legislative Model Language for their state or initiate the modified Compact Legislative Model Language if it were not already in process.

      
      

   3. What are the outcomes that could happen?

      • If Washington could get enough states to change to the modified Compact Model Legislative Language, Washington could join knowing that the Compact would offer greater benefits to all parties involved.

      • If Washington could not get enough states to change to the modified Compact Model Legislative Language, then Washington would not initially join the Compact.

Military Spouses:

If Washington chooses to remain outside of the Compact, or the Compact is never activated, Washington legislators seem amenable to helping military spouses to more easily become licensed in Washington for the duration of their spouses deployment.  There are other states that have enacted laws creating a simpler pathway to licensure for military spouses that Washington could copy.

Conclusion:

These are the options that WSMTA believes are available at this time.  The first option is the most complicated and the riskiest, so we advise everyone to read through the details carefully. If you have any questions, comments or have ideas about other options, please contact us at gr@mywsmta.org.

Our next step is to send out a poll, to see how LMTs are feeling about the Compact.  The poll will be emailed out within the next several days.  In the interim, if you have not read all of the materials WSMTA has created about the Compact, we encourage you to do so, so you are fully informed when answering the poll questions.

Thank you!