STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3181

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2415

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 2415, H.D. 2, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize the Governor to enter the State into the multistate Nurse Licensure Compact, which will allow a nurse who is licensed by a home state to practice under a multistate licensure privilege in each party state; and

(2) Beginning January 1, 2026, authorize the State Board of Nursing to charge different fees customarily and historically charged for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who hold a multistate license issued by the State.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the United States Department of Defense, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Disability and Communication Access Board, Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing, Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Association of Health Plans, The Queen's Health System, Hawaiʻi Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association, Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, Palolo Chinese Home, Liberty Dialysis-Hawaii, Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Adventist Health Castle, Hawaiʻi Care Choices, Hawaii Medical Service Association, and five individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hawaiʻi Nurses and Health Practitioners; Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Association of Professional Nurses; Pride at Work – Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi American Nurses Association; Hawaii Nurses Association, OPEIU Local 50; and one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, University of Hawaiʻi System, Board of Nursing, and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation Corporate Board of Directors.

Your Committee finds that the State is experiencing an acute shortage of licensed medical professionals, including nurses. The multistate Nurse Licensure Compact allows nurses who are licensed by a home state to practice under a multistate licensing privilege in states that are a party to the compact. Presently, forty-one states have adopted the multistate Nurse Licensure Compact. By entering into the multistate Nurse Licensure Compact, the State can take proactive measures to increase access to the nursing workforce by allowing more nurses to practice in the State without the burden of obtaining an additional license while ensuring continuity of safe nursing care. Therefore, this measure authorizes the Governor to enter the State into the multistate Nurse Licensure Compact to provide additional support to address the State's shortage of qualified licensed nurses while protecting the health and safety of Hawaii's people.

Your Committee notes that Senate Bill No. 2492, S.D. 1, Regular Session of 2024, is a substantially similar measure that authorizes the Governor to enter the State into the multistate Nurse Licensure Compact, allowing nurses who are licensed by a home state to practice under a multistate licensure privilege in each party state. Your Committee finds that the language in section 1 of Senate Bill No. 2492, S.D. 1 is preferable because it remains consistent with the formatting and language of the Nurse Licensure Compact approved by a special Delegate Assembly of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and adopted by other party states.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting the contents of section 1 and inserting the contents of section 1 of Senate Bill No. 2492, S.D. 1 (2024);

(2) Requiring individuals that hold a multistate nurse license issued by a state other than Hawaii and are employed by any health care facility to complete any demographic data surveys required by the Board of Nursing as a condition of employment beginning July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, rather than January 1, 2026, and annually thereafter;

(3) Making section 1 take effect and become binding two years after this measure takes effect; and

(4) 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 and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2415, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2415, H.D. 2, 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 and Human Services,

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair