AMTA OR Newsletter Fall 2020

Each report I’ve written in 2020 has been so tough. My heart goes out to our LMT community and our families that have experienced disruption from wildfires, COVID-19, and all the other 2020 challenges that seem to just keep coming. For my part, I’ve found a lot of comfort in connecting with friends that I’ve made through my engagement with the massage professional advocacy. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me (gov@amtaor.org) if you have any questions, want to talk about the issues, or want to get involved on the Government Relations team.

OBMT Updates

1) OBMT sent out a notice on September 16th, that temporary COVID-19 rules related to license renewals will continue through the end of the year. All applications received before 12/31/2020 will have reduced CE requirements. Late fees will not apply during this time, though licenses will still lapse if not renewed. If you missed the email, a detailed notice is on the front page of the board website.

2) The Rules and Education Committees are nearing completion of their work drafting revised CE rules. The board will have the ability to revise and approve any recommendations the committees produce.

3) There was a vacancy for an LMT member on OBMT. As a professional association, AMTA Oregon has the ability to recommend qualified candidates to fill vacancies for LMT members. We emailed all our members about the opportunity and I personally reached out to about 20 LMTs to encourage them to consider applying. Our organization put forward three candidates and one, Carol Gray, LMT, was selected by OBMT as their preferred candidate. Governor Brown makes final appointment decisions and (to my knowledge) that approval is still pending.

4) Kelly Rothenberger, LMT is the outgoing OBMT board member. She served for two full terms, and her service is greatly appreciated!

OSHA Rulemaking

1) Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) has engaged in a rulemaking process to address workplace safety issues related to COVID-19. I reviewed proposed rules in consultation with our Government Relations Committee, AMTA national staff, and local business owners. AMTA Oregon submitted a comment asking questions that we thought should be clarified upon publication of final rules. OSHA representatives replied that they were considering supplementary documentation that would answer common questions.

2) To answer a couple of the big questions: OSHA rules would supplement (not replace) existing OSHA guidelines for personal services (including massage). Additionally, the rules would apply only to places of employment, so sole proprietors and independent contractors would not fall under the new rules.

3) The temporary rules, which are scheduled to go into effect October 1st, will be replaced by permanent Infectious Disease rule which will be drafted November 2020 through March 2021.

4) More details, including the most up-to-date proposed rules are available on the OSHA website here.

Thank you to our Government Relations Committee members Julie Crispin and Donald Schiff!

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