STAND. COM. REP. NO. 193-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: H.B. No. 2415

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health & Homelessness and Labor & Government Operations, to which was referred H.B. No. 2415 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE NURSE LICENSURE COMPACT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize the Governor to enter the State into the multistate Nurse Licensure Compact to allow nurses who are licensed by a home state to practice under a multistate licensure privilege in each party state;

(2) Beginning January 1, 2026, requires nurses who hold multistate licenses issued by a state other than Hawaii to complete demographic data surveys; and

(3) Authorize the Board of Nursing to charge different fees for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who hold a multistate license issued by the State.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Defense; Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing; Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing; Hawai‘i Pacific Health; Kaiser Permanente Hawai‘i; Hawaii Medical Service Association; The Queen's Health System; Hawai‘i Primary Care Association; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; Hawaii Military Affairs Council; Ohana Pacific Health; Grassroot Institute of Hawaii; Hawaii Association of Health Plans; and one individual. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawai‘i Association of Professional Nurses; Hawai‘i-American Nurses Association; and two individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Board of Nursing; Board of Directors of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation; and Hawaii Association for Justice.

Your Committees find that the Nurse Licensure Compact creates a comprehensive process that complements the existing licensing and regulatory authority of state nursing boards to provide a streamlined process to allow nurses to become licensed in multiple states. Your Committees note that forty-one states and two territories have enacted the Nurse Licensure Compact thus far. Your Committees further find that adoption of the Nurse Licensure Compact by Hawaii will help address the State's severe health care provider shortage by expediting the licensure requirements for nurses licensed in other states and increasing the ability of nurses to practice across participating jurisdictions, while still maintaining quality and safety.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that health care facilities must report to the Board of Nursing that all nurses holding multistate license issued by Hawaii, rather than Washington, have completed the required demographic surveys;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health & Homelessness and Labor & Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2415, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2415, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health & Homelessness and Labor & Government Operations,

____________________________ SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair

____________________________ DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair