STAND. COM. REP. NO. 557-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2576

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 H.B. No. 2576 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BACKGROUND CHECKS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to clarify and streamline the background check requirements for applicants, operators, employees, third-party employers, and volunteers at healthcare facilities.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation; Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; The Queen's Health Systems; Hawaiʻi Pacific Health; Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi; Hawaii Care Choices; and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and Department of Health. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Medical Association and Professional Background Screening Association.

Your Committee finds that clear, consistent, and efficient background check requirements are essential to protecting the health and safety of individuals receiving care at the State's health care facilities. Your Committee further finds that authorizing applicants, operators, and third‑party employers to conduct and certify completion of required background checks, rather than the Department of Health, will streamline the process and reduce barriers to timely hiring and placement of employees, volunteers, and contracted personnel. This measure provides a mechanism to enhance statutory clarity for background checks at the State's health care facilities while ensuring safeguards remain in place for patient safety.

Your Committee notes the concerns raised in testimony by the Healthcare Association of Hawaii that tying fingerprinting to facility licensure, rather than at the level of individual licensure, will create confusion and significant administrative burdens without clearly improving safety outcomes, as healthcare facilities often employ thousands of individuals across clinical and non-clinical roles who would now need to be fingerprinted in order for the facility to meet licensure requirements.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language requiring applicants and certain other individuals to submit fingerprints;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) 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 H.B. No. 2576, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2576, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

GREGG TAKAYAMA, Chair