GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

The focus of the AMTA, NJ Chapter Government Relations workshop on October 19 will be to learn about the new licensing law passed early this year. Sally Hacking our Government Relations Consultant will lead this presentation. Sally is very familiar with the NJ massage and bodywork scene since the creation of the current NJ State Certification over 10 years ago. She has assisted in the neighborhood of 20 states in the US in getting State Regulations. We are also hoping to have on hand Dale Florio our lobbyist from Princeton Public Affairs Group in Trenton , NJ as he and his firm have championed our cause in the legislatures both for our current State Certification and for the new Licensure Law. In addition we are inviting representatives of the NJ State Attorney General office who are familiar with our situation from the State Examining Committee perspective.

We will also cover other important related areas:
* How you can become more involved with the NJ New Licensure Practice Act and Rule development over the next year or so?
* How collectively we can promote the State Licensure Process by having representatives attend state meetings as the licensure rules process begin?
* How we will keep you informed of ongoing progress and how you will be able to provide input regarding issues which may affect your practice?
* Relevant information about the Current State Certification law and what you can do to begin your application process at this time if you wish do so including applying for NCTMB status if you are eligible to do so.

This will be a 3 hour offering and provide continuing education credits through AMTA and good for those of you currently State Certified. We are also working on being a NCTMB provider for the AMTA, NJ Chapter which is a relatively involved process and we hope to have that in place for this offering as well. That being said there is a chance that will not happen for this so we want you to be clear about this before you sign up.
We are making this an affordable offering and it will be very informative day with lunch included. Following the presentation there will be a Chapter meeting where you will be able to meet your new AMTA Board of Directors and learn about a new vision for the chapter working together in a cooperative and harmonious manner to serve our members. We will also have information about becoming a Chapter volunteer as we continue to need members to step up and help out in many areas. To download and print the registration form to attend this great event, click HERE.

Your Government Relations Committee Members are: Cynthia Balena, David Banks, Victor Bek, Eileen Kennedy, Virginia Petrucci, Rosina Tola and the entire AMTA NJ Chapter Board of Directors. Charlie Behm and Mike Slansky are the Board Liaisons to this Committee.

The Committee will meet regularly to work on this important area on behalf of our Chapter and the Profession. We have made a decision to continue to retain the services of our current lobbyist in Trenton, Princeton Public Affairs Group, as they will help us during the start up phase of the Licensure Bill and with the repeal of the state sales tax on massage. We have made a decision to bring back Sally Hacking, our former legislative consultant, to help us to achieve our immediate goals relative to the start up of the Licensure Bill. We will also be reaching out to the other massage, bodywork and somatic therapy associations via the State Coalition to work cooperatively and collectively on behalf of not only our membership, but for the good of the entire profession!

We understand that all of this information about Licensing and Certification is complicated and confusing. So we will try to keep it simple in our report and provide you with links to access more information if you are interested in learning more or becoming more involved. Please feel free to call or email any of us to talk more specifically about your concerns.

We will address what we believe are the main concerns, and things to keep in mind at this time!

We have a new Licensing Law (A4455) and here is the link http://www.amtanj.org/archive/Chapter%20337%20license%20law.pdf for you to become more familiar with this law. We acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of Susan Ring, our former Chapter President and Government Relations Chair, in getting this new licensure law passed.



1) Because there is a new licensure law, do you have to do anything NOW regarding applying for a State License?
The answer is NO, as it will take some time for a Board to be appointed and to develop the rules and regulations that will apply. Then once that is all done, the new licensure application process can and will begin.

2) When it is time to apply for State Licensure, how will I qualify?
You will need to have attended a 500 hour approved education program or passed the National Certification Exam. If you have not met those requirements you can be grandfathered in if you have had a minimum 200 hours of approved education and have been working in the profession full time for 2 years or part time for 5 years. The grandfathering period will be for a 360 day time frame in which you can apply under that provision. After which time, to become State Licensed, you will need to meet the 500 hour education requirement or pass the NCTMB exam. Therefore you should start preparing yourself for whatever you need to meet the requirements, so you are ready when the time comes to begin making application for mandatory State Licensure.

3) Should I apply for the present voluntary State Certification?
There will be a provision for currently state certified practitioners to be recognized through the new licensure process. Therefore you can begin the preparation process now if you so choose, or you can wait until the new licensure application begins. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the rules and regulations of the current Voluntary State Certification Act. We understand that the current State Certification Rule will be the foundation for the new licensure requirements, and AMTA NJ Chapter will have the opportunity to provide feedback and or input to our new state board through our AMTA-GR Committee members and our NJ Coalition outreach.
If you presently are NJ State Certified, you should maintain your Certification and not allow it to lapse, as you would then be required to re-apply for the new State Licensure when that begins.

Here is the link of the rules and regulations of the current voluntary State Certification Act.
http://www.amtanj.org/archive/NJBoardofNursingRegulations[1].doc


Also, here is the link to apply to become State Certified if you are interested in doing so at this time.
http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/massage/massappl.pdf

The phone number of the State Examining Committee Office responsible for the application process is (973) 504-6430

4) We need good people to come forth who might be interested in serving on the State Board. The commitment is one all day meeting per month. You would serve an extremely valuable and essential role in developing the new law and enacting it! Please let us know if you might be interested, so we can provide you with the information you would need.

5) Our contact information is: governmentrelations@amtanj.org and the AMTA NJ Chapter office phone number is (973) 376-5151.

We will keep you informed of any information that pertains to all of the above issues, and when you are required to do anything!

Finally, we are planning a Law and Legislation Event at our Fall Chapter meeting. We will dedicate a 3 hour presentation of all the pertinent issues related to the new licensure law, the current voluntary certification act, and address your questions and concerns. The date of this meeting will be October 19, 2008.
Details of this event will be forthcoming.