Representative Nellie Nicholl introduced House Bill 720 to modify the statute governing the Montana Board of Massage Therapy’s membership qualifications. The sponsor and Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Sarah Swanson told the committee the existing statute restricts which state board members may serve based on national association membership and has contributed to vacancies and factional conflict in board meetings.

Commissioner Swanson said the department oversees roughly 200,000 licensees across 29 boards and that the massage‑therapy board is the only licensing board with the explicit national‑association restriction. “Factions in and of itself is just another red herring,” Swanson said, adding the board’s statutory duties are to adopt rules, endorse equivalent licensure exams, set continuing education, meet as necessary and take disciplinary action. Swanson told the committee she has seen several public‑member resignations and said the change would expand the volunteer pool and reduce repeated staff and supervisor time at contentious meetings.

Proponents, including licensed therapists and business owners, said the amendment simply increases access to service and allows board appointments to be based on merit rather than national association affiliation. Opponents argued the 2009 licensing consensus deliberately preserved a variety of voices on the board and said removing the restriction risks domination by a single organization; multiple long‑time practitioners and association leaders urged the committee to preserve the diversity of representation.

Representative Nicholl said the change would let the governor appoint board members based on qualifications and broaden the pool of volunteers. The committee heard testimony from multiple practitioners and association representatives and did not take a final vote that day.