HOUSE BILL 847

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

Rick Miera

AN ACT

RELATING TO LICENSING; EXEMPTING PRACTITIONERS OF CERTAIN HEALING MODALITIES FROM THE MASSAGE THERAPY PRACTICE ACT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. Section 61-12C-5.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2001, Chapter 121, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "61-12C-5.1. EXEMPTIONS.--Nothing in the Massage Therapy Practice Act shall be construed to prevent:

          A. qualified members of other recognized professions that are licensed or regulated under New Mexico law from rendering services within the scope of their [license or regulation] licenses or regulations; provided they do not represent themselves as massage therapists;

          B. students from rendering massage therapy services within the course of study of an approved massage therapy school and under the supervision of a licensed massage therapy instructor;

          C. visiting massage therapy instructors from another state or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia or [any] a foreign nation from teaching massage therapy; provided the instructor is duly licensed or registered, if required, and is qualified in [his] the instructor's place of residence for the practice of massage therapy. The board shall establish by rule the duration of stay for a visiting massage therapy instructor; and

          D. sobadores; Hispanic traditional healers; Native American healers; reflexologists whose practices are limited to hands, feet and ears; [or other healers] practitioners of polarity, Trager approach, Feldenkrais method, craniosacral therapy, Rolfing structural integration, reiki, ortho-bionomy or ch'i gung; or practitioners of healing modalities not listed in this subsection who do not manipulate the soft tissues for therapeutic purposes from practicing those skills. [Healers who use these practices and who apply] An exempt practitioner who applies for a license or registration pursuant to the Massage Therapy Practice Act shall comply with all licensure requirements of that act."

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