“ It ’ s a long negotiation process with all the stakeholders in the profession to come to an agreement on what ’ s going to end up in that document .
So , they take time , but it ’ s worth it .”
— MATTHEW SHAFER
However , as Pulse detailed in September , that is all expected to change soon . Work is well underway on interstate compacts for both massage therapy and cosmetology that should go a long way toward breaking down barriers and making those licenses portable between any states that sign on to the compact . At a recent ISPA Town Hall , stakeholders from inside and outside of the spa industry discussed the compacts ’ progress and other related issues in a conversation with ISPA Board Chair Patrick Huey .
The Ball is Rolling
The entire process began in earnest earlier this year when the Department of Defense selected massage therapy , along with the paired professions of cosmetology and barbering , to receive technical assistance from the Council of State Governments ( CSG ) to help craft the compacts . But Debra Persinger , executive director of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards ( FSMTB ), was quick to point out that this year ’ s developments have been a long time in the making .“ It ’ s been a long-held goal of the federation to simplify and standardize the licensing process ,” said Persinger .“ Now it ’ s all coming together and coalescing .”
Part of that “ coming together and coalescing ” involves the assembly of technical assistance group , a selection of stakeholders that helps CSG navigate the nuances of and potential challenges inherent to establishing reciprocal licensure . Deirdre Strunk , vice president of spa , fitness and beauty at Canyon Ranch , is a member of the technical assistance group working on the massage therapy compact . “ It has about 25 stakeholders : regulators , therapists , business owners and different associations are all part of it ,” said Strunk .“ We help create , basically , the vision for [ the compact ], and then [ CSG ] can create the content for the people that are actually writing the compact .”
This last detail is an important one : For all the work being done on the front end by people who are likely to know the spa industry well , these interstate compacts carry with them the power of law , which means they must be written , debated and then passed by state legislatures , just like other laws . And as with other pieces of legislation , those parts of the process take plenty of time .“ These things … usually take , from start to finish , about 12 to 18 months to develop ,” said Matthew Shafer , project manager at CSG .“ It ’ s a long negotiation process with all the stakeholders in the profession to come to an agreement on what ’ s going to end up in that document . So , they take time , but it ’ s worth it . In the end , you have something that
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 n PULSE 45