LETTER: Legislators Force Exodus by Over-regulation

To the editor:

In an article by James Brooks, Juneau Empire, 1/10/18, "8,885 people moved out of the state (Alaska) with the highest unemployment rate in America ... during 2017, according to Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development". I bet, more are planning their exodus this year! One big reason is a gradual increase in regulations and addition of new boards of regulation, like Board of Massage Therapists, by our state Legislature. The only justification for removing our rights by imposing any state board of regulation is when a profession is severely injuring a significant number of people. Have you heard of people severely injured by massage? Give me a break! Massage is not a threat to our society! So, no state Board is needed to regulate it.

Please, ask your state legislators to vote against House Bill 275, to extend termination date of Board of Massage Therapists, because we do not need it. This kind of legislation makes it harder to do business here, resulting in even more people leaving Alaska. Also, Alaska already has strong laws against sexual assault, and rape, and those laws are enforced by local police and Troopers. We do not need another layer of laws against these same crimes. Any sexual assault is done against us by bad customers, anyway, based on my 15 years experience, as a former massage therapist!

The idea of some board in Juneau telling a person in Kotzebue or Kaktovik or Uqtiakvik that their massage training by her grandmamma is not acceptable, and that she must fly perhaps 1000 miles to school in Anchorage, and then pass some national board exam to practice massage, and then to take 16 hours of classes every 2 years, and repeat their CPR training (as if they forget it) every 2 years, and get fingerprints (as if we are criminals) is offensive to Alaskan people, and does not fit with the conditions of our state! These courses and services are not available in our mostly remote communities.

Let local municipalities have jurisdiction over massage therapy licenses, like they did before. It was working just fine, before the state took over control and raised all our fees and requirements all totaled over ten times what we were paying before to City Halls! This Board of Massage Therapists has closed down economic opportunity for many people in most of our vast state. So, please speak out to state legislators against HB 275 and sunset this Board of Massage Therapists, and all other bills that would impose over-regulation upon our people.

— Daniel Russell

Anchorage