STAND. COM. REP. NO. 878

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 321

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 321, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSE COMPACT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a working group to study the feasibility and effects of the State adopting the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact and submit a report to the Legislature.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the United States Department of Defense and Aloha Care. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Board of Nursing, Hawai‘i Association of Professional Nurses, Hawaii Society of Anesthesiologists, and two individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing.

Your Committees find that Hawaii is suffering from a shortage of nurses. Research indicates that nearly twenty-five percent of nurses in the State have considered leaving the workforce, largely due to the stresses caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, but also due in part to the pressures from the workforce shortage. Your Committees believe that Hawaii joining interstate licensure compacts may address the difficulties medical professionals face in the State with regard to recruitment and retention. This measure establishes a working group to comprehensively study the effects of the State adopting the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact to help address the urgent shortage of nurses in the State.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 321, S.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Third Reading.

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

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair