STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1064-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2314

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 2314, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMERGENCY MEDICAL SYSTEMS OF CARE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to update the State's emergency medical services laws by establishing a comprehensive, time-sensitive emergency medical systems of care model aligned with national best practices.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; and State Health Planning and Development Agency. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that the State's existing emergency medical services laws were developed decades ago and no longer reflect the complexity or scope of modern pre-hospital and acute emergency care. Outdated statutory structures have resulted in gaps in coordination, uneven integration across islands, and barriers to accessing federal funding opportunities needed to strengthen rural and statewide emergency response capacity. This measure seeks to support an integrated systems-of-care model that improves patient outcomes and enhances statewide preparedness for time-sensitive emergencies.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the definition of "basic life support" under the laws relating to the county emergency medical services system to be consistent with the amendments under this measure;

(2) Clarifying that a county, under the laws relating to the county emergency medical services system, retains authority to determine its emergency medical services levels unless the Department of Health, in consultation with the Hawaii Emergency Medical Systems of Care Advisory Council, determines otherwise;

(3) Clarifying a paramedic under the Department of Health laws in this measure is licensed under the existing paramedic licensing statute;

(4) Amending the composition of the Hawaii Emergency Medical Systems of Care Advisory Council, formerly the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Committee, by substituting the Adjutant General out for the Administrator of Emergency Management; and

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

Your Committee notes that the amendment substituting the Adjutant General with the Administrator of Emergency Management was made in light of House Bill No. 1752 and Senate Bill No. 2139, Regular Session of Hawaii 2026, to avoid duplication and conflicting statutory language. As this measure advances, the progress of those measures should be monitored to determine whether this amendment should be reversed.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2314, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2314, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce,

____________________________

SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair