A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to expand the massage and bodywork therapy board to include an establishment owner.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 90‑625(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	The North Carolina Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy is created. The Board shall consist of eight members who are residents of this State and are as follows:
(1)	Five members shall be massage and bodywork therapists who have been licensed under this Article and have been in the practice of massage and bodywork therapy for at least five of the last seven years prior to their serving on the Board. Consideration shall be given to geographical distribution, practice setting, clinical specialty, involvement in massage and bodywork therapy education, and other factors that will promote diversity of the profession on the Board. Two of the five members shall be appointed by the General Assembly, upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, two shall be appointed by the General Assembly, upon the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and one shall be appointed by the Governor.
(2)	One member shall be a physician licensed pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes or a person once licensed as a physician whose license lapsed while the person was in good standing with the profession and eligible for licensure. The appointment shall be made by the Governor and may be made from a list provided by the North Carolina Medical Society.
(3)	One member shall be a member of the general public who shall not be licensed under Chapter 90 of the General Statutes or the spouse of a person who is so licensed, or have any financial interest, directly or indirectly, in the profession regulated under this Article. The appointment shall be made by the Governor.
(4)	One member shall be an individual who is currently licensed to operate a massage and bodywork therapy establishment under this Article, or if the Board has not begun to issue any establishment licenses, a current owner of a massage and bodywork therapy establishment. This appointment shall be made by the Governor."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 90‑628 reads as rewritten:
"§ 90‑628.  Expenses and fees.
(a)	All salaries, compensation, and expenses incurred or allowed for the purposes of this Article shall be paid by the Board exclusively out of the fees received by the Board as authorized by this Article or from funds received from other sources. In no case shall any salary, expense, or other obligations of the Board be charged against the General Fund.
(b)	The Board may impose the following fees up to the amounts listed below for a license to practice massage and bodywork therapy:
(1)	Application for license	$40.00
(2)	Initial license fee	300.00
(3)	License renewal	200.00
(4)	Late renewal penalty	150.00
(5)	Repealed by Session Laws 2008‑224, s. 8, effective August 17, 2008.
(6)	Duplicate license	50.00
(7)	Repealed by Session Laws 2008‑224, s. 8, effective August 17, 2008."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 90‑629 reads as rewritten:
"§ 90‑629.  Requirements for licensure to practice.
Upon application to the Board and the payment of the required fees, an applicant may be licensed as a massage and bodywork therapist if the applicant meets all of the following qualifications:
(1)	Has obtained a high school diploma or equivalent.
(2)	Is 18 years of age or older.
(3)	Is of good moral character as determined by the Board.
(4)	Has successfully completed a training program consisting of a minimum of 650 in‑class hours of supervised instruction at a Board‑approved school.
(5)	Has passed a competency assessment examination that meets generally accepted psychometric principles and standards and is approved by the Board.
(6)	Has submitted fingerprint cards in a form acceptable to the Board at the time the license application is filed and consented to a criminal history record check by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
(7)	Demonstrates satisfactory proof of proficiency in the English language."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 90‑634.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 90‑634.1.  Civil penalties; disciplinary costs.
(a)	Authority to Assess Civil Penalties. – The Board may assess a civil penalty not in excess of two thousand dollars ($2,000) for the violation of any section of this Article or the violation of any rules adopted by the Board. The continuation of the same act for which the penalty is imposed shall not be the basis for an additional penalty unless the penalty is imposed against the same party who has repeated the same act for which the discipline has previously been imposed. The clear proceeds of any civil penalty assessed under this section shall be remitted to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund in accordance with G.S. 115C‑457.2.
(b)	Consideration Factors. – Before imposing and assessing a civil penalty, the Board shall consider the following factors:
(1)	The nature, gravity, and persistence of the particular violation.
(2)	The appropriateness of the imposition of a civil penalty when considered alone or in combination with other punishment.
(3)	Whether the violation was willful and malicious.
(4)	Any other factors that would tend to mitigate or aggravate the violations found to exist.
(c)	Schedule of Civil Penalties. – The Board shall establish a schedule of civil penalties for violations of this Article and rules adopted by the Board.
(d)	Costs. – The Board may assess investigative and discipline hearing costs against a person found to be in violation of this Article or rules adopted by the Board."
SECTION 5.  As enacted by Section 1 of this act, the initial term of office for the member who is currently licensed to operate a massage and bodywork therapy establishment under this Article and appointed by the Governor shall begin on July 1, 2019, and shall expire on June 30, 2022. Consistent with G.S. 90‑625(c), subsequent appointees to these positions shall be appointed for a term of three years, but notwithstanding the appointment for a term of three years, the member shall serve at the will of the appointing authority.
SECTION 6.  This act is effective July 1, 2019, and applies to persons first licensed on or after that date. Section 3 of this act is effective July 1, 2019, and applies to individuals first licensed on or after that date. The remainder of this act is effective July 1, 2019.