Massage Therapy Practice Act Update, Convention News, 2017 Elections

December 2016

In This Issue

Links:

At our last Membership meeting on September 10th the members voted to move our election process to online voting. Our newly appointed Online Elections Coordinator is Toni Roberts who has graciously offered to help us with this first go around which will be in February. The positions that are available are as follows:

* Board Member

* Financial Administrator

* (2) Two Year Term Delegates

* (1) One Year Term Delegate

If you are interested in any of these positions we will need you to submit a resume(required) and photo(optional) before we can send you an application.

Newsletter Ideas?

Have some suggestions for the next newsletter?

Please e-mail:

Laurie Pratt at

[email protected]

Want to Volunteer?

Would you like to serve on a committee or run for a board position or Delegate for the 2017 elections?

Please e-mail: Toni Roberts

[email protected]

Join Us For Lunch at our next Membership Meeting

February 25, 2017

Online Election Results and Swearing in of New Board Members and Delegates

Happy Holidays to

All of Our Members

As the holidays approach and many of you are busy making plans to spend with loves ones or busy with your holiday marketing push, the Board Members and I would like to take this time to thank all of you for being a part of our AMTA family! Those of you that have been staying informed about all the proposed changes that are currently being looked at for our Massage Therapy Practice Act know that the Government Relations Committee and some of the Board Members have been heavily involved in making sure our member's concerns are being submitted and addressed during this process. Although we have come a long way - there is still so very far to go. The hope is that the newly formed Special Committee that has been charged by the Secretary of States office to work on this amendment will be able to come up with a passable document before Congress goes back in session mid-January.

We will try to keep you up-to-date via email blasts as pertinent information presents itself. However, the best way for you to make sure you are getting all the information and questions answered that you want are encouraged to attend the next Georgia Board of Massage Therapy meeting in Macon on Friday, January 13th. It is very important if you wish to speak at the meeting you MUST write and request to do so directly with the Secretary of States office. It is our intentions to have our entire Board and GR Committee at that meeting so if you attend you will not be alone. Below is the contact information for the Georgia Board of Massage Therapy:

Georgia Board of Massage Therapy

237 Coliseum Drive

Macon, GA 31217

Toll Free Number: 1-844-753-7825

Phone: (478) 207-2440

Fax: 1-866-888-1308

Email: [email protected]

Just to be clear the Board Members started out just wanting to put some substance to the statement in the original Massage Therapy Practice Act that was in the back of the document and stated:

§ 43-24A-23. Taxation as a health care activity Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the act of a duly licensed massage therapist in performing a massage shall be deemed to be the act of a health care professional and shall not be subject to the collection of any form of state or local taxation regulations not also imposed on other professional health care activities. HISTORY: Code 1981, § 43-24A-23, enacted by Ga. L. 2005, p. 1251, § 1/SB 110.

It was our goal to have that written a little more specific to include words like fees and to have it as one of the opening paragraphs. Once we learned that the Georgia Board of Massage Therapy had presented their own amendments to the state we decided it would be in our best interest to work with them as they were much further along in the process. We are hoping that in the end the revisions for the law will not only make it to the floor of the capitol but more importantly will be something that betters are profession and protects us from some of the ridiculous regulations local municipalities have put on some of us.

Laurie L. Pratt - LMT, BCTMB

AMTA-GA Chapter President

Delegates Report - National Convention

written by: Veleanar Horton

The following are additional highlights from the National Delegate Convention:

Bill Brown, Executive Director of AMTA, relayed an update on the progress of AMTA as a whole during the Opening Session and Annual Meeting;
- AMTA is the most respected and trusted non-profit massage organization.
- AMTA gives back to the members
- Reached the highest total of members this year which is 71,000.
- Provided $155,000 in student scholarships
- Provides a free study app for students taking the MBLEX.
- On November 1, all students will receive free memberships.
- Offer job banks affiliated with other organizations for jobs (ARC/ Duke University).
- Pushing for Massage Therapists as Healthcare Providers.
- Supports research.
- Pushing to provide Self-care classes to Massage Envy employees.

The following was taken from AMTA website:

What makes AMTA Different:

AMTA is the only national non-profit association dedicated to serving members and the massage therapy profession.
We endorse professional standards and support fair and consistent licensing of massage therapy. We actively promote members as the first choice for massage therapy to consumers.
We are led by a volunteer Board of Directors elected by the membership at the national and chapter levels.
AMTA has been, and will continue to be, a leader in advancing the massage therapy profession.

AMTA New Chapter Board Structure

In June 2016 AMTA's national board approved a new chapter board structure to provide consistency among all chapters. The new structure is part of a multi-year culture initiative focusing on the value of the volunteer experience.

Some positions and titles have changed and the new structure will be complete in 2018. At that time, all chapters will have 5 elected board members: President, (2) Board Members, Secretary and Financial Administrator. Below are the positions up for election in 2017 and subsequently in 2018. If you have any further questions about the process leading up to these changes, we will be providing more details on our chapter website. If you have questions about our elections or are interested in becoming a candidate for our AMTA-GA chapter board, please contact Toni Roberts at: (770) 984-8040 or [email protected].

2017 Chapter Elections

Both positions are for a two-year term (2017-2019)

Board Member (new title - replaces 1^st Vice President)
Financial Administrator (new title - replaces Treasurer)

After 2017 elections, the 2017-2018 Chapter board will consist of:

President
Board Member
Board Member
Secretary
Financial Administrator

2018 Chapter Elections

All positions are for a two-year term (2018-2020)

President
Board Member
Secretary

Lisa Aspy, 3rd V.P. - Meeting Planner

It was very interesting being a witness to the inner workings of this organization called:" AMTA". While attending the National Convention in Milwaukee this year, I heard of many exciting and not so exciting changes coming down the pipelines from National. For one, my position as 3

^rd VP will be dissolved as National is trying to ease the challenges of filling positions for the smaller chapters. They hope to achieve this by eliminating some of the board positions. My position, 3

^rd VP was referred to as being "retired to the beach" - I wish that was actually true. My name is Lisa Aspy and I have been honored to serve you as a delegate and on your Chapter board for the past 4 years.

While at the Convention, I observed some of what it takes to run the AMTA. I am in awe of its complexity. The amount of dedication and volunteerism is apparent throughout the different levels of its leadership. I am proud to have been a part of this organization and continually learn more each year that I return to the National Convention.

This year it was brought to my attention that the Position Statements and Recommendations of 2015 were not to be voted on by the National Board until this year - two days before the Convention officially begins. I recall some of the discussions regarding past P/S were quite heated with much debate. Voting on them a year later by the National Board seemed a little lifeless and anti-climactic as the passion and drama was gone.

This I suppose is not necessarily bad as we need guidelines laid down from a highly researched and well thought out perspective. Although I was left with the feeling that waiting a full year to vote on topics from the previously year allowed passions to wain but also some of the momentum and importance placed on them by the members was lost.

Another revelation was that we at the Chapter level complain a lot about what National decides that directly affects its chapters. Attending the National BOD opened my eyes to those reasons why National does what it does. Often times it's a legal based decision. I walked away not professing to understand it all, but coming away with a deeper appreciation that there is a team of Attorneys and Advisors helping our National Board make its decisions to better our organization.

This was my first time attending the National BOD and would recommend it to all in the future to attend at least once to have a better understanding of how your organization is run and maybe get a glimpse of the reasons behind the actions of your National Board.