South Carolina H 5210: Interstate Massage Compact

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5210 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 18, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5210

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS SO AS TO ENACT 
THE "INTERSTATE MASSAGE COMPACT ACT" BY ADDING SECTION 40-30-510 SO AS TO 
PROVIDE THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA ENTERS INTO THE INTERSTATE MASSAGE COMPACT 
WITH ANY AND ALL STATES LEGALLY JOINING THE COMPACT, AND TO ADOPT THE TERMS OF 
THE COMPACT IN ITS SUBSTANTIAL FORM; AND TO DESIGNATE THE EXISTING PROVISIONS 
OF CHAPTER 30, TITLE 40, AS "GENERAL PROVISIONS."

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "Interstate Massage Compact Act."

SECTION 2. Chapter 30, Title 40 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 Section 
40-30-510. The General Assembly of the State of 
South Carolina hereby enacts, and the State of South Carolina hereby enters 
into, the Interstate Massage Compact with any and all states legally joining 
therein according to its terms, in the form substantially as follows:

Interstate Massage Compact

Article 1

Purpose

The purpose of this compact 
is to reduce the burdens on state governments and to facilitate the interstate 
practice and regulation of massage therapy with the goal of improving public 
access to, and the safety of, massage therapy services. Through this compact, 
the member states seek to establish a regulatory framework which provides for a 
new multistate licensing program. Through this additional licensing pathway, 
the member states seek to provide increased value and mobility to licensed 
massage therapists in the member states, while ensuring the provision of safe, 
competent, and reliable services to the public. This compact is designed to 
achieve the following objectives, and the member states hereby ratify the same 
intentions by subscribing hereto:

 A. increase public 
access to massage therapy services by providing for a multistate licensing 
pathway;

 B. enhance the member 
states' ability to protect the public's health and safety;

 C. enhance the member 
states' ability to prevent human trafficking and licensure fraud;

 D. encourage the 
cooperation of member states in regulating the multistate practice of massage 
therapy;

 E. support relocating 
military members and their spouses;

 F. facilitate and 
enhance the exchange of licensure, investigative, and disciplinary information 
between the member states;

 G. create an 
interstate commission that will exist to implement and administer the compact;

 H. allow a member 
state to hold a licensee accountable, even where that licensee holds a 
multistate license;

 I. create a 
streamlined pathway for licensees to practice in member states, thus increasing 
the mobility of duly licensed massage therapists; and

 J. serve the needs of 
licensed massage therapists and the public receiving their services; however,

 K. nothing in this 
compact is intended to prevent a state from enforcing its own laws regarding 
the practice of massage therapy.

Article 2

Definitions

As used in this compact, 
except as otherwise provided and subject to clarification by the rules of the 
commission, the following definitions shall govern the terms herein:

 A. "Active military 
member" means any person with full-time duty status in the armed forces of the 
United States, including members of the national guard and reserve.

 B. "Adverse Action" 
means any administrative, civil, equitable, or criminal action permitted by a 
member state's laws which is imposed by a licensing authority or other 
regulatory body against a licensee, including actions against an individual's 
authorization to practice such as revocation, suspension, probation, surrender 
in lieu of discipline, monitoring of the licensee, limitation of the licensee's 
practice, or any other encumbrance on licensure affecting an individual's 
ability to practice massage therapy, including the issuance of a cease and 
desist order.

 C. "Alternative 
program" means a nondisciplinary monitoring or prosecutorial diversion program 
approved by a member state's licensing authority.

 D. "Authorization to 
practice" means a legal authorization by a remote state pursuant to a 
multistate license permitting the practice of massage therapy in that remote 
state, which shall be subject to the enforcement jurisdiction of the licensing 
authority in that remote state.

 E. "Background check" 
means the submission of an applicant's criminal history record information, as 
further defined in 28 C.F.R. Section 20.3(d), as amended from the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation and the agency responsible for retaining state criminal 
records in the applicant's home state.

 F. "Charter member 
states" means member states who have enacted legisl