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Urgent request from CAMTC for letters to CA State Senators

Late last night I received word that the California Police Chiefs Association of Police Chiefs (CPCA) is still working to damage and impede the success of CAMTC in moving toward state-level regulation of massage therapy in California. CAMTC is urging all supportive parties to write a letter to be sent to state senators as soon as possible urging them to kill AB-1822

Senator Rod Wright has agreed to be the Senate Floor Jockey for AB 1822 for the CPCA. The amendments are at the Senate Desk. If things go as expected, the bill will go out for amending today. It would be back on the 2^nd reading file on Friday or Monday. The following day it would be placed on the 3^rd reading file and would be eligible for Senator Wright to take it up for a vote. Senator Oropeza, the author of SB-731 which authorized creation of CAMTC, will send out a letter opposing AB 1822, which carries weight with the other Senators. CAMTC is also working with the leaders of other interested groups to build opposition to the bill and share the opposition with members of the Senate.

Massage Today has created a web form to send your letter to the CA state senators. They also have a background story about the "Kill AB1822" effort.

Floor alert letters to the senate have been sent by both CAMTC and ABMP.

This is and always has been a turf battle between a small fraction of police chiefs and the move toward uniform and equitable regulation of massage therapy at the state level. AB-1822 would place on the CAMTC Board of Directors representatives from the same organizations that have spread misinformation in their attempt to undermine CAMTC. As noted in the floor alerts, CAMTC already is doing thorough background checks on applicants. Review of flagged applications already involves CAMTC staff that have law enforcement backgrounds. And, law enforcement already has an opportunity for participation on the board via positions reserved for the California League of Cities and California Association of Counties (both positions currently unfilled). AB-1822 not only continues an attempt to undermine CAMTC, but also, as noted by State Senator Sam Aanestad during the Senate Business & Professions Committee hearing (37:40 min into the video stream) sets an undesirable precedent of having law enforcement intrude directly into regulation of health care professions.

Please lend your voice and support to preserving the purpose and integrity of CAMTC.

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Comment by Jason Day on September 2, 2010 at 1:33pm: Ok thanks Keith for keeping us informed hopefully Arnold (Who I voted for) will do the right thing and let us practice in peace.

Jason

Comment by Keith Eric Grant on September 2, 2010 at 10:59am: Jason, it passed the senate with 22 votes for it and the senate amendment were confirmed by the assembly. So now the battle moves to getting the Governor to veto it. Letters to the Governor are more effective (and less likely to drop into a black hole) once his office has the bill. He is out of the country 9-15 Sept and has to sign it or not by 30 Sept. I'll post more as things develop.

Meanwhile, I did write a blog post on vote results and next steps.

Comment by Jason Day on September 2, 2010 at 10:49am: Keith any word on how the vote turned out for the Bill. If most therapists in California had to go through what San Diego Therapists had to go through they would be camping outside the legislature to prevent this bill from happening.

Comment by Keith Eric Grant on August 28, 2010 at 7:12pm: To further answer Janet. California state senators are under term limits. As they term out, many will look toward moving into county or city offices. From what I hear, many are getting calls from police chiefs, posing the question, "Would you like our future support or our opposition?" It really has turned into both swift-boating the CAMTC board and power politics at it's rawest level. I don't think I'll ever contribute to a police organization again.

Comment by Daniel Cohen on August 28, 2010 at 9:10am: The vote is Monday again. If you haven't sent your message yet please do it this weekend.
http://www.massagetoday.com/bill1822/stop_ab1822.php. This is good but a personalized email to your Senator or to all of them is better. We have professional MTs in every district. Be heard, don't allow law enforcement to put us backwards professionally.

Comment by Keith Eric Grant on August 27, 2010 at 10:38pm: One might think that the California Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) was back in the horse buggy days -- how else to explain all the horse pucky they produce.

CAMTC, as a matter of staff procedure in processing applications, informs local agencies of applicants within their sphere of interest. Mind you, this is part of checking them out, including DOJ, FBI, and court record checks. There are not people certified or even about to be certified unless they pass all of the checks and or individual review.

Here's the spin that CPCA is putting on one recent such list in an effort to sway senators.

This kind of stuff makes it really hard to believe that there are police chiefs out there somewhere who ever tell the truth.

Comment by Keith Eric Grant on August 27, 2010 at 9:47pm: They can buy them in the sense that CPCA is a political organization that can sway votes. This is an election year and there are certainly senators up for reelection who would like the CPCA to support their reelection.

And now, it's down to the wire. AB 1822 came up for a vote today and failed by one or two votes. The bill's senate jockey was granted reconsideration, meaning it will come up for a new vote on Monday. Meanwhile, I hear that the CPCA is making phone calls to individual senators. So, emails to your senator or a phone call to their office is needed before the vote on Monday to hold them off. If the senators don't hear a clear message from the grassroots of the profession, this bill is a done deal. Just one or two votes may make the difference.

Here's a link to determine your state senator.

And no it isn't obvious, CPCA is using misinformation to paint CAMTC as an insular, uninformed board that wants nothing to do with anyone outside the profession and could even by hijacked by professional crime and those involved in human trafficking. If that kind of depiction makes you mad, contact your state senator.

Comment by Janet on August 27, 2010 at 7:49pm: How can they buy these Senate votes? Isn't it clear that it is just a grab for money/power?

Comment by Keith Eric Grant on August 25, 2010 at 9:08pm: Another day without a vote on AB1822. Same thing, Senator Wright not in place when the bill came up. It wouldn't surprise me if they are letting the vote slide while they try to round up sufficient votes to pass the bill over our opposition. Your assignment, should you accept it, is to write an email or make a phone call so that they don't get those votes. It's going to be close, so your emails and calls can make a huge difference. Once again, here's a No On AB1822 form and here's the current background.

Comment by Keith Eric Grant on August 23, 2010 at 6:33pm: There's still a few writing hours left. And it is vitally important to write California State Senators to vote against AB 1822 and preserve the integrity of the CAMTC board of directors. A vote may come as early as tomorrow. Here's the current info.