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City Council Proposes Mandatory Licensing for Touch Therapy Practitioners in Philadelphia Starting Immediately

Official:Amending Chapter 9-600 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Service and Other Businesses," by providing for the licensing of touch therapy, and by repealing certain provisions relating to massage and massage businesses, all under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Reynolds Brown

Introduced: April 4, 2013

: Committee on Licenses and Inspections

business procurement public health

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2012–2015 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill requires touch therapy practitioners in Philadelphia to obtain a license from the Department of Licenses and Inspections. It defines what constitutes touch therapy and sets out requirements for licensure.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Requires touch therapy practitioners in Philadelphia to obtain a license from the Department of Licenses and Inspections.
Defines what constitutes touch therapy, including practices that involve physical contact or extremely close proximity between a practitioner and a client.
Repeals sections 9-610 and 9-611 of The Philadelphia Code, which related to massage and massage businesses.
Imposes licensure requirements on touch therapy practitioners, including (although the text is not fully available) the use of touch to affect the energy systems, acupoints, Qi meridians, or channels of energy of the human body.