STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1348-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 847

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 847, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PSYCHOLOGISTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a three-year pilot program to allow qualified psychologists under the supervision of a supervising physician to prescribe psychotropic medications for the treatment of mental illness to patients under the psychologist's care at a federally qualified health center located in the County of Kauai.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Health Planning and Development Agency; Board of Psychology; Mayor of the County of Hawaiʻi; Mayor of the County of Kauaʻi; Hawaiʻi Psychological Association; Hawaiʻi Mental Health Coalition; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Hawaii Chapter; Hawaii Medical Association; Hawaiʻi Association of Professional Nurses; Hawaiʻi Psychiatric Medical Association; Hawaii Academy of Family Physicians Legislative Affairs Committee; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health; Hawaii Primary Care Association; and Aloha Independent Living.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii is facing an ongoing shortage in mental health care treatment providers, particularly in rural and medically underserved communities. Your Committee further finds that granting qualified psychologists who have received the appropriate training in psychopharmacology limited prescriptive authority to dispense medication under the supervision of a licensed psychiatrist may make comprehensive medical health care more accessible to Hawaii residents.

Your Committee notes that other facilities that may be considered as alternative sites for the pilot program on Kauai are the Wilcox Medical Center and Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the preamble;

(2) Requiring licensed psychiatrists, rather than licensed psychiatrists and licensed physicians, to provide supervision to psychologists participating in the pilot program;

(3) Limiting treatment under the pilot program to patients who are between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five;

(4) Clarifying that a participating psychologist must have completed an education and training program in clinical psychopharmacology that is designated by the American Psychological Association to prepare licensed psychologists for prescriptive authority in order to participate in the pilot program;

(5) Clarifying that the pilot program shall begin on July 1, 2028, and cease to exist on June 30, 2031;

(6) Amending the definition of "psychotropic medication" to exclude drugs placed in schedules II through V of the Hawaii Controlled Substances Act and prohibiting the administration of off-label use of drugs;

(7) Adding a sunset date of June 30, 2031; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 847, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 847, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

GREGG TAKAYAMA, Chair