STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2868

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2492

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 S.B. No. 2492, 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) Allow the Governor to enter the State into the multi-state Nurse Licensure Compact, which will allow a nurse who is licensed by a home state to practice under a multi-state licensure privilege in each party state, effective January 1, 2026; and

(2) Beginning January 1, 2026, allow the State Board of Nursing to charge different fees for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who hold a multi-state license issued by the State.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the United States Department of Defense; Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Disability and Communication Access Board; Hawaii Health Systems Corporation; Hawaiʻi Health Systems Corporation, West Hawaiʻi Region; Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing; Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association; Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi; Palolo Chinese Home; Indivisible Hawaii Healthcare Team; Hawaiʻi Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives; Hawaiʻi Pacific Health; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; Grassroot Institute of Hawaii; Hawaiʻi Care Choices; The Queen's Health System; Save Medicaid Hawaii; Hawaii Military Affairs Council; Hawaii Young Republicans; and thirteen individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaiʻi Nurses' Association – OPEIU Local 50, Hawaiʻi American Nurses Association, and two individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Board of Nursing.

Your Committees find that the nursing shortage in Hawaii poses challenges to the long-term workload for available nurses and poses a threat to public safety during emergencies. Your Committees also find that the multi-state Nurse Licensure Compact, which allows a nurse who is licensed by a home state to practice under a multi-state licensure privilege in states that are a party to the compact, could help alleviate the State's nursing shortage by allowing more nurses to practice in Hawaii without the burden of obtaining an additional license. In addition, the multi-state Nurse Licensure Compact could allow nurses to quickly cross state borders and provide vital services in the event of a disaster, such as the August 2023 Maui wildfires. Your Committees find that it is in the public interest to allow the Governor to enter the State into the multi-state Nurse Licensure Compact to expand the much-needed pool of qualified nurses and improve health care services statewide.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2040, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) 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 S.B. No. 2492, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2492, 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