REPORT TITLE: 
Professions and Occupations


DESCRIPTION:
Repeals regulation of real estate collection servicing agents.
Requests an auditor's sunset review of barbers, beauty culture,
and speech pathology and audiology regulatory programs.
Requests the LRB study the fairness of the dental licensing
examination.  (SB1238 HD1)


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        1238
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 2
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO PROFESSIONS AND VOCATIONS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that government
 
 2 bureaucracy and red tape may be reduced by deregulating
 
 3 professions and vocations where appropriate.  Streamlining
 
 4 government operations by terminating unnecessary programs will
 
 5 make government more cost effective and efficient, an important
 
 6 and desirable outcome given Hawaii's struggling economy.
 
 7 Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:
 
 8      (1)  Repeal the regulation of real estate collection
 
 9           servicing agents and make conforming amendments to
 
10           related sections of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.  The
 
11           legislature finds regulation of real estate collection
 
12           servicing agents is unnecessary; regulation does not
 
13           serve to protect the public health, safety, and welfare
 
14           and should therefore be eliminated;
 
15      (2)  Require that the legislative auditor report on whether
 
16           regulation of barbering, beauty culture, and speech
 
17           pathologists and audiologists should be continued or
 
18           repealed, and if continued, whether it would be more
 
19           efficient and cost effective to regulate through a
 

 
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 1           regulatory board, the department of commerce and
 
 2           consumer affairs, or some other agency or mechanism;
 
 3           and 
 
 4      (3)  Require that the legislative reference bureau report on
 
 5           whether the dental licensing exam developed and used by
 
 6           the board of dental examiners appropriately tests for
 
 7           competence or is an undue exclusionary barrier to entry
 
 8           into the profession, and whether the examination should
 
 9           be replaced by any of four regional examinations.
 
10                              PART I
 
11                   REPEAL OF BUSINESS REGULATION
 
12      SECTION 2.  Section 412:3-502, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
13 amended to read as follows:
 
14      "§412:3-502  Foreign financial institutions.  No foreign
 
15 financial institution shall receive deposits, lend money, or pay
 
16 checks, negotiate orders of withdrawal or share drafts from any
 
17 [[]principal[]] office, branch, agency, automatic teller machine,
 
18 or other location in this State, unless expressly authorized by
 
19 this chapter, other laws of this State, or federal law;
 
20 provided[,] that nothing in this section shall prohibit any
 
21 foreign financial institution from participating in the
 
22 disbursement of cash through an automatic teller machine network
 

 
 
 
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 1 or from operating from any location in this State as a mortgage
 
 2 broker licensed under chapter 454, or as a real estate collection
 
 3 servicing agent [registered under chapter 454D]."
 
 4      SECTION 3.  Section 443B-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 5 amended by amending the definition of "collection agency" to read
 
 6 as follows:
 
 7      ""Collection agency" means any person, whether located
 
 8 within or outside this State, who by oneself or through others
 
 9 offers to undertake or holds oneself out as being able to
 
10 undertake or does undertake to collect for another person, claims
 
11 or money due on accounts or other forms of indebtedness for a
 
12 commission, fixed fee, or a portion of the sums so collected.
 
13      "Collection agency" includes:
 
14      (1)  Any person using any name other than the person's own
 
15           in collecting the person's own claims with the
 
16           intention of conveying, or which tends to convey the
 
17           impression that a third party has been employed; 
 
18      (2)  Any person who, in the conduct of the person's business
 
19           for a fee, regularly repossesses any merchandise or
 
20           chattels for another; and
 
21      (3)  Any person who regularly accepts the assignment of
 
22           claims or money due on accounts or other forms of
 

 
 
 
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 1           indebtedness and brings suits upon the assigned claims
 
 2           or money due on accounts or other forms of indebtedness
 
 3           in the person's own name; provided that any suits shall
 
 4           be initiated and prosecuted by an attorney who shall
 
 5           have been appointed by the assignee[; provided further
 
 6           that any person who by oneself or through others offers
 
 7           to undertake or holds oneself out as being able to
 
 8           undertake or does undertake to collect for another
 
 9           person the amounts due under any agreement which
 
10           provides for installment payments and which is secured
 
11           by an interest in repeal property, including without
 
12           limitation, mortgage loans and agreements of sale,
 
13           whether or not the collection servicing agent receives
 
14           any compensation or other consideration for one's
 
15           services, shall fall within the purview of chapter
 
16           454D].
 
17      "Collection agency" does not include licensed attorneys at
 
18 law acting within the scope of their profession, licensed real
 
19 estate brokers, and salespersons residing in this State when
 
20 engaged in the regular practice of their profession, nor banks,
 
21 trust companies, building and loan associations, savings and loan
 
22 associations, financial services loan companies, credit unions,
 

 
 
 
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 1 companies doing an escrow business, individuals regularly
 
 2 employed on a regular wage or salary in the capacity of credit
 
 3 persons or in other similar capacity for a single employer who is
 
 4 not a collection agency, nor any public officer or any person
 
 5 acting under an order of court."
 
 6      SECTION 4.  Chapter 454D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 7 repealed.
 
 8                              PART II
 
 9                      AUDITOR'S SUNSET REVIEW
 
10      SECTION 5.  (a) The legislative auditor shall conduct a
 
11 study, or a series of studies, as appropriate, as provided in
 
12 subsection (b), regarding the regulation of the following
 
13 professions or vocations:
 
14      (1)  Speech pathologists and audiologists (chapter 468E,
 
15           Hawaii Revised Statutes);
 
16      (2)  Practice of barbering (chapter 438, Hawaii Revised
 
17           Statutes); and
 
18      (3)  Beauty culture (chapter 439, Hawaii Revised Statutes).
 
19      (b)  With respect to the professions or vocations specified
 
20 in subsection (a), the auditor shall:
 
21      (1)  Determine whether, given the criteria in section 26H-2,
 
22           Hawaii Revised Statutes, regulation of these
 

 
 
 
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 1           professions or vocations should be continued or
 
 2           repealed;
 
 3      (2)  Upon concluding that regulation of any of these
 
 4           professions and vocations should continue, determine
 
 5           whether regulation would be more efficiently and cost
 
 6           effectively administered by:
 
 7           (A)  A regulatory board;
 
 8           (B)  The department of commerce and consumer affairs;
 
 9                or
 
10           (C)  An alternative regulatory mechanism.
 
11      (c)  The auditor shall submit to the legislature a report of
 
12 the findings and recommendations concerning the regulation of
 
13 speech pathologists and audiologists no later than twenty days
 
14 before the convening of the regular session of 2000, and the
 
15 regulation of barbering and beauty culture no later than twenty
 
16 days before the convening of the regular session of 2001.
 
17                             PART III
 
18                    STUDY RELATING TO DENTISTRY
 
19      SECTION 6.  The legislative reference bureau, with the
 
20 assistance of the board of dental examiners and the department of
 
21 commerce and consumer affairs, shall conduct a study of the
 
22 state-constructed dental licensing examinations used by the
 

 
 
 
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 1 board.  The study shall include a determination of the following
 
 2 questions:
 
 3      (1)  Given examination pass rates since 1992, does the state
 
 4           constructed dental licensing examination, including
 
 5           proposed changes to the examination, appropriately test
 
 6           for professional competency in the field of dentistry
 
 7           or serve as an undue exclusionary barrier to entry to
 
 8           the profession?  In considering this question, the
 
 9           legislative reference bureau shall compare the dental
 
10           licensing examination pass rates of the following
 
11           groups of applicants:
 
12           (A)  Graduates of institutions located in the United
 
13                States and accredited by an accreditor recognized
 
14                by the United States Secretary of Education;
 
15           (B)  Graduates of institutions located in the United
 
16                States not accredited by an accreditor recognized
 
17                by the United States Secretary of Education;
 
18           (C)  Graduates of institutions located in foreign
 
19                countries that are accredited by the governments
 
20                of those countries; and
 
21           (D)  Graduates of institutions located in foreign
 
22                countries that are not accredited by the
 
23                governments of those countries;
 

 
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 1      (2)  Should any of the four regional dental examinations be
 
 2           used in lieu of, or as an alternative option to, the
 
 3           state-constructed dental licensing examination and, if
 
 4           so, under what conditions; and
 
 5      (3)  Any other questions pertinent to an evaluation and
 
 6           determination of the fairness of the state-constructed
 
 7           dental licensing examination under section 26H-2,
 
 8           Hawaii Revised Statutes, criteria.
 
 9      The legislative reference bureau shall submit the requested
 
10 report, with its findings, recommendations, and proposed
 
11 legislation, if necessary, to the legislature not later than
 
12 twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of
 
13 2000.
 
14      SECTION 8.  Statutory material to be repealed in bracketed.
 
15      SECTION 9.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.