SB222 - Alabama Massage Therapy Licensure Act Amendments

• Increases minimum supervised instruction hours for licensure from 500 to 650 hours, with detailed breakdown of required subjects including 100 hours of anatomy and physiology, 250 hours of basic massage therapy, 50 hours of business/ethics/first aid, and 250 hours of electives.

• Expands board exemptions to include hospitals and their wellness centers, Native American healers using traditional practices, and disaster relief organizations; removes reference to temporary permits.

• Changes board composition from five to six licensed massage therapists and reduces public members from two to one; provides board members compensation of $100 per day for attending sessions plus travel reimbursement.

• Increases criminal penalties for violations from Class C to Class A misdemeanor and expands grounds for license revocation/suspension, including unprofessional conduct, false advertising, and practicing without proper licensure.

• Requires applicants to be 18 years old with high school diploma, removes citizenship requirement, mandates criminal history background checks, and removes limit on examination retakes; changes "executive secretary" title to "executive director."