103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB2660

 

Introduced 1/10/2024, by Sen. Javier L. Cervantes

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
225 ILCS 57/45

    Amends the Massage Licensing Act. Provides that, immediately after a person licensed under the Act has been charged with the offense of prostitution, rape, or sexual misconduct or with any crime that subjects the licensee to compliance with the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration Act, then the prosecuting attorney shall provide notice to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation of the licensee's name, address, practice address, and license number and a copy of the criminal charges filed. Provides that, within 5 business days after receiving notice from the prosecuting attorney, the Secretary shall issue an administrative order that the licensee shall practice only with a chaperone who is a licensed health care worker present during all patient encounters pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings. Provides that the chaperone shall provide written notice to all of the licensee's patients before treatment explaining the Department's order to use a chaperone and each patient shall sign an acknowledgement that he or she received the notice. Provides that, within 5 business days after receipt of the administrative order, the licensee shall provide to the Department a written plan of compliance with the administrative order that is acceptable to the Department. Provides that failure to comply with the administrative order, failure to file a compliance plan, or failure to follow the compliance plan shall subject the licensed massage therapist to temporary suspension of his or her license until the completion of the criminal proceedings. Provides that, if the licensee is not convicted of the charge or if any conviction is later overturned by a reviewing court, the administrative order shall be vacated and removed from the licensee's record. Provides that the Department may adopt rules to implement the provisions. Effective immediately.


LRB103 35933 SPS 66020 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2660LRB103 35933 SPS 66020 b

1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Massage Licensing Act is amended by
5changing Section 45 as follows:
 
6    (225 ILCS 57/45)
7    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)
8    Sec. 45. Grounds for discipline.
9    (a) The Department may refuse to issue or renew, or may
10revoke, suspend, place on probation, reprimand, or take other
11disciplinary or non-disciplinary action, as the Department
12considers appropriate, including the imposition of fines not
13to exceed $10,000 for each violation, with regard to any
14license or licensee for any one or more of the following:
15        (1) violations of this Act or of the rules adopted
16    under this Act;
17        (2) conviction by plea of guilty or nolo contendere,
18    finding of guilt, jury verdict, or entry of judgment or by
19    sentencing of any crime, including, but not limited to,
20    convictions, preceding sentences of supervision,
21    conditional discharge, or first offender probation, under
22    the laws of any jurisdiction of the United States: (i)
23    that is a felony; or (ii) that is a misdemeanor, an

 

 

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1    essential element of which is dishonesty, or that is
2    directly related to the practice of the profession;
3        (3) professional incompetence;
4        (4) advertising in a false, deceptive, or misleading
5    manner, including failing to use the massage therapist's
6    own license number in an advertisement;
7        (5) aiding, abetting, assisting, procuring, advising,
8    employing, or contracting with any unlicensed person to
9    practice massage contrary to any rules or provisions of
10    this Act;
11        (6) engaging in immoral conduct in the commission of
12    any act, such as sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, or
13    sexual exploitation, related to the licensee's practice;
14        (7) engaging in dishonorable, unethical, or
15    unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive,
16    defraud, or harm the public;
17        (8) practicing or offering to practice beyond the
18    scope permitted by law or accepting and performing
19    professional responsibilities which the licensee knows or
20    has reason to know that he or she is not competent to
21    perform;
22        (9) knowingly delegating professional
23    responsibilities to a person unqualified by training,
24    experience, or licensure to perform;
25        (10) failing to provide information in response to a
26    written request made by the Department within 60 days;

 

 

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1        (11) having a habitual or excessive use of or
2    addiction to alcohol, narcotics, stimulants, or any other
3    chemical agent or drug which results in the inability to
4    practice with reasonable judgment, skill, or safety;
5        (12) having a pattern of practice or other behavior
6    that demonstrates incapacity or incompetence to practice
7    under this Act;
8        (13) discipline by another state, District of
9    Columbia, territory, or foreign nation, if at least one of
10    the grounds for the discipline is the same or
11    substantially equivalent to those set forth in this
12    Section;
13        (14) a finding by the Department that the licensee,
14    after having his or her license placed on probationary
15    status, has violated the terms of probation;
16        (15) willfully making or filing false records or
17    reports in his or her practice, including, but not limited
18    to, false records filed with State agencies or
19    departments;
20        (16) making a material misstatement in furnishing
21    information to the Department or otherwise making
22    misleading, deceptive, untrue, or fraudulent
23    representations in violation of this Act or otherwise in
24    the practice of the profession;
25        (17) fraud or misrepresentation in applying for or
26    procuring a license under this Act or in connection with

 

 

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1    applying for renewal of a license under this Act;
2        (18) inability to practice the profession with
3    reasonable judgment, skill, or safety as a result of
4    physical illness, including, but not limited to,
5    deterioration through the aging process, loss of motor
6    skill, or a mental illness or disability;
7        (19) charging for professional services not rendered,
8    including filing false statements for the collection of
9    fees for which services are not rendered;
10        (20) practicing under a false or, except as provided
11    by law, an assumed name; or
12        (21) cheating on or attempting to subvert the
13    licensing examination administered under this Act.
14    All fines shall be paid within 60 days of the effective
15date of the order imposing the fine.
16    (b) A person not licensed under this Act and engaged in the
17business of offering massage therapy services through others,
18shall not aid, abet, assist, procure, advise, employ, or
19contract with any unlicensed person to practice massage
20therapy contrary to any rules or provisions of this Act. A
21person violating this subsection (b) shall be treated as a
22licensee for the purposes of disciplinary action under this
23Section and shall be subject to cease and desist orders as
24provided in Section 90 of this Act.
25    (c) The Department shall revoke any license issued under
26this Act of any person who is convicted of prostitution, rape,

 

 

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1sexual misconduct, or any crime that subjects the licensee to
2compliance with the requirements of the Sex Offender
3Registration Act and any such conviction shall operate as a
4permanent bar in the State of Illinois to practice as a massage
5therapist. Immediately after a person licensed under this Act
6has been charged with the offense of prostitution, rape, or
7sexual misconduct or with any crime that subjects the licensee
8to compliance with the requirements of the Sex Offender
9Registration Act, the prosecuting attorney shall provide
10notice to the Department of the licensee's name, address,
11practice address, and license number and a copy of the
12criminal charges filed. If the victim of the crime the
13licensee has been charged with is a patient of the licensee,
14the prosecuting attorney shall also provide notice to the
15Department of the patient's name. Within 5 business days after
16receiving notice from the prosecuting attorney, the Secretary
17shall issue an administrative order that the licensee shall
18practice only with a chaperone who is a licensed health care
19worker present during all patient encounters pending the
20outcome of the criminal proceedings. The administrative order
21shall also specify any other terms or conditions deemed
22appropriate by the Secretary. The chaperone shall provide
23written notice to all of the licensee's patients before
24treatment explaining the Department's order to use a
25chaperone, and each patient shall sign an acknowledgement that
26he or she received the notice. The notice to the patient shall

 

 

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1include, in 14-point font, the following statement: "The
2massage therapist is presumed innocent until proven guilty of
3the charges." Within 5 business days after receipt of the
4administrative order, the licensee shall provide to the
5Department a written plan of compliance with the
6administrative order that is acceptable to the Department.
7Failure to comply with the administrative order, failure to
8file a compliance plan, or failure to follow the compliance
9plan shall subject the licensed massage therapist to temporary
10suspension of his or her license until the completion of the
11criminal proceedings. If the licensee is not convicted of the
12charge or if any conviction is later overturned by a reviewing
13court, the administrative order shall be vacated and removed
14from the licensee's record. The Department may adopt rules to
15implement the changes made by this amendatory Act of the 103rd
16General Assembly.
17    (d) The Department may refuse to issue or may suspend the
18license of any person who fails to file a tax return, to pay
19the tax, penalty, or interest shown in a filed tax return, or
20to pay any final assessment of tax, penalty, or interest, as
21required by any tax Act administered by the Illinois
22Department of Revenue, until such time as the requirements of
23the tax Act are satisfied in accordance with subsection (g) of
24Section 2105-15 of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.
25    (e) (Blank).
26    (f) In cases where the Department of Healthcare and Family

 

 

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1Services has previously determined that a licensee or a
2potential licensee is more than 30 days delinquent in the
3payment of child support and has subsequently certified the
4delinquency to the Department, the Department may refuse to
5issue or renew or may revoke or suspend that person's license
6or may take other disciplinary action against that person
7based solely upon the certification of delinquency made by the
8Department of Healthcare and Family Services in accordance
9with item (5) of subsection (a) of Section 2105-15 of the Civil
10Administrative Code of Illinois.
11    (g) The determination by a circuit court that a licensee
12is subject to involuntary admission or judicial admission, as
13provided in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
14Code, operates as an automatic suspension. The suspension will
15end only upon a finding by a court that the patient is no
16longer subject to involuntary admission or judicial admission
17and the issuance of a court order so finding and discharging
18the patient.
19    (h) In enforcing this Act, the Department or Board, upon a
20showing of a possible violation, may compel an individual
21licensed to practice under this Act, or who has applied for
22licensure under this Act, to submit to a mental or physical
23examination, or both, as required by and at the expense of the
24Department. The Department or Board may order the examining
25physician to present testimony concerning the mental or
26physical examination of the licensee or applicant. No

 

 

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1information shall be excluded by reason of any common law or
2statutory privilege relating to communications between the
3licensee or applicant and the examining physician. The
4examining physicians shall be specifically designated by the
5Board or Department. The individual to be examined may have,
6at his or her own expense, another physician of his or her
7choice present during all aspects of this examination. The
8examination shall be performed by a physician licensed to
9practice medicine in all its branches. Failure of an
10individual to submit to a mental or physical examination, when
11directed, shall result in an automatic suspension without
12hearing.
13    A person holding a license under this Act or who has
14applied for a license under this Act who, because of a physical
15or mental illness or disability, including, but not limited
16to, deterioration through the aging process or loss of motor
17skill, is unable to practice the profession with reasonable
18judgment, skill, or safety, may be required by the Department
19to submit to care, counseling, or treatment by physicians
20approved or designated by the Department as a condition, term,
21or restriction for continued, reinstated, or renewed licensure
22to practice. Submission to care, counseling, or treatment as
23required by the Department shall not be considered discipline
24of a license. If the licensee refuses to enter into a care,
25counseling, or treatment agreement or fails to abide by the
26terms of the agreement, the Department may file a complaint to

 

 

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1revoke, suspend, or otherwise discipline the license of the
2individual. The Secretary may order the license suspended
3immediately, pending a hearing by the Department. Fines shall
4not be assessed in disciplinary actions involving physical or
5mental illness or impairment.
6    In instances in which the Secretary immediately suspends a
7person's license under this Section, a hearing on that
8person's license must be convened by the Department within 15
9days after the suspension and completed without appreciable
10delay. The Department and Board shall have the authority to
11review the subject individual's record of treatment and
12counseling regarding the impairment to the extent permitted by
13applicable federal statutes and regulations safeguarding the
14confidentiality of medical records.
15    An individual licensed under this Act and affected under
16this Section shall be afforded an opportunity to demonstrate
17to the Department or Board that he or she can resume practice
18in compliance with acceptable and prevailing standards under
19the provisions of his or her license.
20(Source: P.A. 102-20, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
21    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
22becoming law.