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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Idaho to license massage therapists, joining 43 other states

Idaho will join 43 other states and start licensing massage therapists, after Sen. Jim Hammond‘s bill was signed into law last week by Gov. Butch Otter. Therapists will have 18 months to become licensed; currently, anyone can claim to be a massage therapist and charge for the service, including criminals. “Everybody giggles about massage therapy, but really it has become a mainstream therapy for healing and for maintaining good health,” said Hammond, R-Coeur d’Alene. He said people taking a relative or family member for massage therapy – which now often is prescribed for everyone from people recovering from medical procedures to the elderly or disabled – “want somebody of high moral character … who’s well-trained.”

You can read more in my Sunday column here, which also includes info on why the governor let two other bills become law without his signature - on one, he noted a conflict of interest - and the state asking for public input on arguments for and against the two constitutional amendments that will appear on the November ballot, the Right to Hunt amendment and a one-word change regarding county misdemeanor probation services.
 



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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