STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3741

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2415

H.D. 2

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 2415, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

beg 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;

(2) Beginning July 1, 2026, require individuals that hold a multistate nurse license issued by another state employed by a health care facility to annually complete demographic data surveys; and

(3) 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 Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the United States Department of Defense, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing, Disability and Communication Access Board, Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Palolo Chinese Home, Hawaii Military Affairs Council, The Queen's Health System, Kaiser Permanente, Hawaii Young Republicans, Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, Hawaii Medical Service Association, Adventist Health Castle, Hawaiʻi Care Choices, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Hawaii Association of Health Plans, and four individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi, Pride at Work-Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Association of Professional Nurses, Hawaiʻi American Nurses Association, Hawaiʻi Nurses Association-OPEIU Local 50, Hawaii State AFL-CIO, United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, Hawaiʻi Nurses and Health Practitioners, and IATSE Local 665.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Board of Nursing, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, and Hawaii Association for Justice.

Your Committees find that as the State continues to face a severe shortage of health care workers, which includes an acute shortage of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, new solutions must be considered to help ensure that Hawaii residents can continue to obtain quality health care. Your Committees find that one potential solution is for the State to enter the multistate Nurse Licensure Compact presently adopted by forty-one states, which would allow nurses who are licensed by a home state to practice under a multistate licensing privilege in states that are a party to the compact. Your Committees find that by entering into the multistate Nurse Licensure Compact, the State can expand the pool of potential qualified nurses that are eligible to work in Hawaii, alleviate the nursing shortage and the associated burdens placed on existing nursing staff, and provide for the health and well-being of Hawaii's people.

Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2415, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2415, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary,

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair