STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3177

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2319

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 2319, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE STATE HEALTH PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Amend the functions and responsibilities of the State Health Planning and Development Agency;

(2) Add a new definition of "health care" for chapter 323D‑2, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(3) Amend the exemption threshold for bed changes to up to thirty percent of existing licensed bed types; and

(4) Exempt the Department of Health from certificate of need requirements.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Health Planning and Development Agency, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, and one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Association of Health Plans, Hawaii Medical Service Association, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that an important aspect of the State Health Planning and Development Agency's (SHPDA) mission is to, through collaboration and persuasion, help the entire state government achieve a shared vision of the ideal future of health care in the State. Your Committee further finds that, historically, large state health care programs, such as those administered by the Departments of Health, Human Services, Corrections and Rehabilitation, Education, and Commerce and Consumer Affairs; the Hawaii Health System Corporation; the University of Hawaii; and many other state agencies, have been operating in silos without effective coordination. This measure modernizes SHPDA's statutory functions and responsibilities to better align statewide health planning efforts, strengthen interagency coordination, and improve access to care for all residents of the State.

Your Committee acknowledges the concern raised in testimony by SHPDA regarding this measure's expansion of SHPDA's authority beyond its traditional health planning and facilities-based role into areas such as health insurance coverage and rates, benefit design, reimbursement, and related matters that are governed under separate statutory and regulatory frameworks. Your Committee understands this concern and notes that the companion to this measure, S.B. No. 3139, S.D. 1, Regular Session of 2026, more appropriately aligns SHPDA's responsibilities with the purposes of this measure while preserving appropriate jurisdictional boundaries.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting its contents and inserting the language from S.B. No. 3139, S.D. 1, Regular Session of 2026, a substantively similar measure that:

(A) Amends the functions and responsibilities of the State Health Planning and Development Agency, while avoiding the extension of its authority to health insurance coverage and rates, benefit design, reimbursement, and related matters governed under separate statutory and regulatory frameworks;

(B) Adds a new definition of "health care" for chapter 323D, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(C) Amends the exemption threshold for bed changes to up to thirty percent of existing licensed bed types; and

(D) Exempts the Department of Health from certificate of need requirements; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2319, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2319, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair