Thank you to everyone who wrote to the Federal Way City Council, made a public comment or attended the June 16, 2026 city council meeting.  Your support really, really helped.

The Federal Way City Council met on June 16, 2026 for a first reading of the Massage Business Ordinance No.  26-1043.  The council first heard public comments, then listened to a summary of the ordinance by the Assistant City Attorney and asked questions of the Assistant City Attorney, Police Chief and Deputy Police Chief.

Council President Susan Honda made a motion that the ordinance be re-written to remove the 3 regulations that massage therapists have been protesting about:

• Prohibiting locked entrance doors during business hours
• Prohibiting internal warning systems*
• Prohibiting cash transactions

* Note: WSMTA and other interested parties are only concerned about door chimes being prohibited.  During the June 9 Committee meeting, the City stated door chimes were not included in this prohibition; however, this exclusion has yet to be included in writing in the ordinance's definition of "internal warning systems".

This motion was voted down.  After this, It looked like the ordinance would be approved with the current wording.  However, Council Member Jack Walsh made a motion to amend the ordinance to allow massage therapy businesses to become exempted from these three regulations if they passed an inspection process – a recommendation that WSMTA had previously made to the Council. 

This motion was approved – but it is not the last step in the process.

Next Steps for the Federal Way Ordinance

On Tuesday July 7, the Massage Business Ordinance will have a “second reading”.  At this meeting, if no further amendments or changes are made, Massage Business Ordinance No. 26-1043 will be approved as the current language reads, including the newly added amendment that would allow massage therapy businesses to become exempt from the three controversial regulations of no locked doors during business hours, no internal warning systems and no cash transactions--if they pass an inspection.

If the ordinance passes at the July 7 City Council, it will go into effect soon after.

Stay Tuned for Additional News

At this time, we are waiting to obtain the final amendment language.  WSMTA did catch and reported a discrepancy between the original motion made and the motion as typed out by the city clerk, so we are waiting to hear the outcome of that.  We will also communicate with the Federal Way Police Department regarding the inspection process. 

Within the next week, WSMTA will have a better sense of whether further action will be necessary and what additional support we may ask of you.

Again, thank you so much for supporting Federal Way’s massage business owners, licensed massage therapists, and the clients they work with.