HB 1458 New Hampshire House · 2026 Regular Session

relative to the licensing of massage establishments and massage, reflexology, structural integration, and Asian bodywork facilities.

HB 1458 requires businesses offering massage, reflexology, structural integration, or Asian bodywork therapy in commercial locations to obtain a facility license from the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification. Owners must affirm they have no convictions for prostitution or human trafficking-related offenses and cannot allow residents to live in the facility. The license must be posted visibly, and applications must be processed within 14 days unless denied for cause. This bill does not apply to services provided in non-commercial settings, such as a practitioner’s home or a client’s residence.

Bill status passed 2 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Failed

Mar 2026

Governor

Introduced Dec 4, 2025 Last action May 5, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Amended by the House → As Amended by the House (2nd) · 2 edits

MINOR

The second amendment adds a requirement for an FBI background check in addition to the existing state police background check for massage establishment proprietors, and explicitly states that all associated costs must be paid by the licensee. This strengthens the vetting process for those operating massage establishments.

REQUIREMENT

Massage establishment proprietors must now pass a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check in addition to the existing state police background check.

FISCAL

All costs associated with the FBI background check are explicitly required to be paid by the licensee, not by the state or any other party.

Introduced → As Amended by the House · 9 edits

MAJOR

The bill was substantially restructured from creating an entirely new chapter focused on combating human trafficking in massage businesses to amending existing licensing chapters to add a proprietor license requirement specifically for multi-practitioner establishments. The anti-trafficking framing, residency prohibitions, and broad criminal history attestations were removed in favor of targeted background checks tied to specific sexual offense statutes and a 'more than one person' threshold that excludes solo practitioners.

Scope change

Narrowed significantly. The Introduced version applied to all commercial massage/bodywork facilities regardless of size and included residency prohibitions. The amended version only applies to establishments where more than one practitioner works, excludes solo practitioners, medical settings, and temporary public services, and removes the anti-trafficking framing in favor of a standard licensing framework.

SCOPE

The bill no longer creates a new standalone chapter (328-K). Instead, it amends existing chapters RSA 328-B (massage therapists) and RSA 328-H (reflexologists, structural integrators, Asian bodywork therapists) to add proprietor licensing requirements.

The broad requirement that applicants affirm they have not been convicted of 'prostitution or human trafficking related crimes in this or any state or country' was replaced with specific statutory references to sexual offense laws.

DEFINITION

New definition of 'massage establishment' as a commercial location where massage is advertised and performed by more than one person. Solo practitioners are excluded. Also excludes medical settings, temporary public services, and other rule-based exceptions.

New definition of 'massage establishment proprietor' as the person responsible for lease/ownership, daily operations, and hiring. Excludes property owners not involved in business operations.

New definition of 'bodywork establishment' for reflexology, structural integration, and Asian bodywork therapy, mirroring the massage establishment definition with the same multi-practitioner threshold and exclusions.

REQUIREMENT

A new prohibited act: acting as a massage establishment proprietor without holding both a proprietor license AND a massage therapy license issued under the existing chapter.

An Advisory Board of Massage Therapists consisting of 3 licensed massage therapists appointed for staggered 3-year terms (max 2 consecutive terms) to review applicant qualifications, workshop providers, continuing education, and exemptions.

ELIGIBILITY

Proprietor qualifications include verification of identity via social security or tax ID number and no prior convictions under RSA 633, 632-A, 645:2, 649-A or similar laws in other states, verified by a state police background check.

ENFORCEMENT

The Introduced version's misdemeanor penalty for persons residing in commercial massage facilities was removed entirely from the amended version.

Floor votes · House Mar 26, 2026

How they voted

100–103

Failed · 20 other

Total votes 223

Mar 26, 2026

D Democratic108

89 Yea 12 Nay 7

82% Yea

I Independent2

1 Nay 1

50% Nay

R Republican113

11 Yea 90 Nay 12

79% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 30, 2026

Committee

Committee Report: Referred to Interim Study, 05/07/2026; Vote 3-0; CC; SC 17

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Introduced

Introduced 03/26/2026 and Referred to Executive Departments and Administration; SJ 7

upper

Mar 26, 2026

Vote failed

House Vote: fail (100-103-20)

house

Mar 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-1188h: MA VV 03/26/2026 HJ 9 P. 12

lower

Mar 26, 2026

Introduced

Amendment # 2026-1188h: AA VV 03/26/2026 HJ 9 P. 9

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2026-1188h 03/17/2026 (Vote 25-0; RC)

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Referred to Finance 02/19/2026 HJ 5 P. 74

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-0638h and 2026-0833h: MA VV 02/19/2026 HJ 5 P. 74

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Introduced

Amendment # 2026-0638h: AA VV 02/19/2026 HJ 5 P. 73

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Minority Committee Report: Refer for Interim Study

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Majority Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2026-0638h (NT) 02/11/2026 (Vote 10-5; RC) HC 7 P. 32

lower

Jan 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

Full Committee Work Session: 02/04/2026 11:00 am GP 231

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Lower · Passed

Full Committee Work Session: 02/02/2026 11:00 am GP 231

lower

Dec 4, 2025

Introduced

Introduced 01/07/2026 and referred to Executive Departments and Administration HJ 1 P. 21

lower

1 primary · 2 co-sponsors