Washington Music Therapy Task Force

04/16/2026

A bit of a delayed update for you all -

Big news for music therapy in Washington 🎉

Over the past several months, this community showed up in a big way by advocating, writing letters, and supporting music therapy legislation. And it made a difference!

House Bill 2363 has officially been signed into law! 👏

What this means:
• New graduates can begin working under supervision while their license is finalized (up to 6 months)
• Better continuity of care for clients
• Helps address workforce shortages across our state

📅 Effective January 1, 2028

This milestone wouldn’t have been possible without the leadership of Representative Julia Reed, along with support from AMTA, CBMT, dedicated lobbyists, and you, the Washington music therapy community.

More wins this session:
• $75,000 secured to support implementation (no added licensure fee burden)
• New budget language that may help reduce future licensure costs
• A DOH study on lowering licensing costs for practitioners
• A Medicaid expansion bill was introduced - an important first step, with more work already in motion

Your advocacy is shaping the future of our profession and expanding access to care across Washington, and we’re not done yet.

The Washington State Music Therapy Task Force will continue advocating, supporting implementation, and working to grow access to music therapy services statewide.

📣 As this rolls out, we want to hear from you! Share any challenges or barriers so we can keep pushing this work forward.

02/24/2026

URGENT ACTION ITEM: complete by 4pm today! (2/24)

We were notified about this proposal by a community member via The Arc of Washington State: “the House and Senate released their budgets. Buried in the House budget is a proposal to ELIMINATE Occupational, Speech, and Physical Therapies for adult Medicaid recipients.”

What you can do TODAY: Click the link in bio and Sign in “con”.

SLP

02/17/2026

🎶 Washington Music Therapy Community — We’re Almost There! 🎶

A few weeks ago, many of you showed up and helped us move this bill through the House — thank you! 🙌

Now we have the next step:

This Friday, 2/20/2026, the WA Senate Healthcare Committee is holding a public hearing on SHB 2363.
Your support again can help carry this forward and make a lasting impact for music therapists across our state.

💡 You can help in just a few clicks:

The legislature allows online support registration — no writing or speaking required. Lawmakers do pay attention to these numbers, and your sign-in truly matters.

👉 How to Support SHB 2363:
1️⃣ Click the link in bio
2️⃣ Select PRO
3️⃣ Enter your info & submit

⏳ Deadline: Thursday at midnight (takes less than a minute!)

Thank you for continuing to show up for music therapy in Washington. Let’s finish strong together! 💙🎶

01/19/2026

🎶 Washington Music Therapy Community — We Need You! 🎶

This Wednesday, Jan 21, the WA State House is holding a public hearing on HB 2363, a bill that would allow new music therapists to work under supervision while their license is being processed. This is a BIG win for our field, and we’re excited about it!

💡 You can help in just a few clicks:
The legislature allows online support registration—no writing or speaking required. Lawmakers do pay attention to these numbers, and your support truly matters.

👉 How to support HB 2363:
1️⃣ Click the link in bio
2️⃣ Select HB 2363 – Music Therapy Exemptions
3️⃣ Choose “Position noted for the legislative record”
4️⃣ Select PRO
5️⃣ Enter your info & submit

Thank you for supporting music therapy in Washington! 💙🎶

12/04/2025

Washington State music therapists need your help!

We had a big win when music therapy licensure became law in our state, but unfortunately the costs are too high and stopping many music therapists from becoming licensed. The task force has put together an email that we kindly ask you to send to Governor Ferguson’s office, requesting that the previous previously vetoed music therapy licensing funding be restored.

A letter template, including a link on where to submit the email, can be found in the link in our bio.

Thanks for all you do!
The Washington State Music Therapy Task Force

06/21/2025

Washington State MT-BCs, check your email for a licensure fee update and an advocacy request from the Washington State Music Therapy Taskforce.

ID: a yellow border with the above caption in dark purple and light blue with the Taskforce logo in the center.

03/20/2025

Hey Washington state music therapist! Earlier this week you should have received an email from the Washington state music therapy task force with a pre-written email to send to your representatives, whose contact information was included. If you haven’t already copy and pasted that email on, please do so by tomorrow, 3/21, at the latest. Let’s make our profession more financially accessible for therapists!

ID: a cream background with a folded tan letter in the center. The top says Washington MTBC – MTL check your email and the bottom says we need your help advocating to reduce renewal fees. Send that pre-written email to your representatives today!

01/01/2025

MTL

Today, 1/1/25, is the day a Music Therapist License is officially required to practice Music Therapy in the state of Washington

FAQs

“MTL” is what you will add to your signature. It is up to the practitioner if they want to also include “MT-BC”.

There is no grace period.

Penalties will be decided on a case by case basis for practicing without a license. The DOH will investigate upon receiving a complaint.

Questions? Send them to us here or by emailing [email protected]

ID: a dark teal background with white text that repeats the caption.

04/27/2023

We moved the mountain!!

Music Therapy License Created in Washington

American Music Therapy Association, Inc. (AMTA) and the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) are excited to announce that on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law SHB 1247. This bill creates a music therapy license within the Department of Health and establishes a Music Therapy Advisory Committee to assist the Department in matters concerning the license.

Please help us congratulate the current co-chairs of the Washington State Task Force, Megumi Azekawa and Evelyn Stagnaro, for their leadership over the years in promoting state recognition efforts and advocating for this legislation; current and former task force members Cecelia Bartosiewicz, Carlene Brown, Patti Catalano, John Heckel, Marissa Renella, and Wendy Woolsey; legislative consultants Peter Diedrick and Michael Moran for their support and counsel; all the professional and student music therapists in the state who attended Hill Day events, sent letters of support, and participated in advocacy efforts; and all the music therapists whose previous advocacy laid the foundation for this success.

04/14/2023

We know we’ve been a little quiet. That’s because this process has been a whirlwind!
We are so elated to share our efforts for licensure have been seen. We also had some GREAT advocates with co-sponsors and our dynamic duo of lobbyists by our side.
Thank you all so much for making this possible!

03/09/2023

Did you see our email? Our bill for licensing music therapists is moving! Sign in to support our bill and vote PRO for the hearing tomorrow. Link is listed below!

https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifier/Add?chamber=Senate&mId=30930&aId=153024&caId=21934&tId=3

02/06/2023

Our efforts to move forward with Music Therapy Licensure have abruptly slowed.
We need your voices to reflect on our services and how important licensure will be, and why we need legislative support.
Please find your template below to email Healthcare Committee members!

Music Therapists:

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1OBltNQtOC804CtZFwv3YSlOE_7BS2Nh0/mobilebasic

Clients and Families:

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1DrxxshFbgkIIYHnTsMZ0GCZs58BLlXsB/mobilebasic

Allied Healthcare Professionals:

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1L8ghWxJytU9fIEF82_RVti6fgpdpmQv2/mobilebasic