STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2244

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2460

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2460 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NURSES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to allow temporary permits to be issued to registered nurses and licensed practical nurses from a territory or foreign country who are seeking a state license by endorsement.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Hawaii Medical Service Association; Hawai‘i Friends of Civil Rights; Hawai‘i - American Nurses Association; Hawai‘i Coalition for Immigrant Rights; Hawai‘i Pacific Health; Filipina Advocacy Network; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; The Legal Clinic; Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, East Hawaii Region; Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates; and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Board of Nursing, Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing, The Queen's Health Systems, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the State faces a nurse shortage. Furthermore, the shortage has been exacerbated by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, with nearly five thousand nurses leaving the field between 2019 and the middle of 2021. Currently, qualified nurses in other states may apply for Hawaii licensure by endorsement, making them temporarily eligible to practice in the State while their applications are verified. Expanding this practice to nurses from other territories and foreign jurisdictions will enable more qualified nurses to practice in the State. Accordingly, this measure expands application for licensure by endorsement to include registered nurses and licensed practical nurses from a territory or foreign jurisdiction.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2460, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2460, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

________________________________

JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair