Pennsylvania HB 663: An Act providing for the licensure of bodywork facilities; imposing powers and duties on the Department of State; and prescribing penalties.

Bill Text

PRINTER'S NO. 670
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 663
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY WEBSTER, M. MACKENZIE, HOWARD, HILL-EVANS,
SANCHEZ, KHAN, KENYATTA, RABB, CURRY, PARKER AND SHUSTERMAN,
FEBRUARY 20, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE,
FEBRUARY 20, 2025
AN ACT
Providing for the licensure of bodywork facilities; imposing
powers and duties on the Department of State; and prescribing
penalties.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section 1. Short title.
Section 2. Definitions.
Section 3. Licenses required.
Section 4. Administrative duties.
Section 5. Application for license.
Section 6. Background checks.
Section 7. Issuance and denial.
Section 8. Temporary license.
Section 9. Prohibitions.
Section 10. Requirements.
Section 11. Inspections.
Section 12. Suspension and revocation of licenses.
Section 13. Forfeiture.
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Section 14. Practice of bodywork on minors.
Section 15. Victims services.
Section 16. Effective date.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Bodywork
Facilities Regulation Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Advertise." The public promotion of a service, by use of
printed media, the Internet or other advertising method or
medium, to attract and encourage individuals to engage, purchase
or use the service referenced in the content of the
advertisement.
"Applicant." An individual or entity acting on the behalf of
a bodywork facility to apply for a license. If the applicant is
an entity, the term includes each individual officer, director,
manager, partner, member, principal owner and any person with at
least a 1% financial interest in the entity.
"Bodywork facility." A place of business where the human
body is manipulated through touch or pressure, where the
practice of massage and bodywork is conducted on the premises of
the business or that represents itself to the public by a title
or description of services incorporating the words "bodywork,"
"massage," "massage therapy," "massage practitioner,"
"massagist," "masseur" or "masseuse" or other term or modality
or an image or photograph depicting the activity or service.
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(1) The term includes acupressure, chair massage,
craniosacral therapy, deep tissue massage therapy,
Hellerwork, manual lymphatic drainage, massage therapy,
myofascial release therapy, neuromuscular therapy, Process
Acupressure, Rolfing, shiatsu, Swedish massage therapy,
Trager, visceral manipulation, massage, Asian bodywork
therapy, biodynamic craniosacral therapy, Jin Shin Do
Bodymind Acupressure, polarity, polarity bodywork, Polarity
Therapy bodywork, qigong, Reiki, tuina, Rolfing Structural
Integration, Feldenkrais method of somatic education, Trager
approach to movement education, body-mind centering, ortho-
bionomy and reflexology.
(2) The term does not include an activity that takes
place in any of the following:
(i) A training room of a public or private school
accredited by the Department of Education.
(ii) A training room of a recognized professional or
amateur athletic team.
(iii) An office, clinic or other facility at which
medical professionals licensed by the Commonwealth
provide bodywork to the public in the ordinary course of
their medical profession.
(iv) A medical facility licensed by the
Commonwealth.
(v) A place of business where a licensed massage
therapist or other bodywork practitioner works as a solo
practitioner and complies with all of the requirements of
this act and:
(A) does not use a business name or assumed
name; or
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(B) uses a business name or an assumed name, but
also provides the practitioner's full name or license
number in each advertisement and each time the
business name or assumed name appears in writing.
(vi) A premises where a person exclusively practices
techniques that:
(A) do not involve contact with the body of the
client; or
(B) involve resting the hands on the surface of
the client's body without delivering pressure to or
manipulation of the soft tissues.
(vii) A premises where services, including the
topical application of products to the skin for
beautification purposes, take place as long as the
services do not involve direct manipulation of the soft
tissues of the body.
"Bureau." The Bureau of Professional and Occupational
Affairs in the department.
"Client." An individual who enters into an agreement for
services for a fee, income or compensation of any kind in this
Commonwealth.
"Department." The Department of State of the Commonwealth.
"Dormitory." A location in a massage establishment, other
than a res