STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1147-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2576

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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2576, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize applicants, operators, and third-party employers, rather than the Department of Health, to conduct background checks of employees and adult volunteers at healthcare facilities.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Healthcare Association of Hawaii; The Queen's Health Systems; Hawaiʻi Pacific Health; Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi; Surgicare of Hawaiʻi; Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific; Palolo Chinese Home; 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 Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission staff; LeadingAge Pacific West; Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing; and Hospice Maui.

Your Committee finds that background check requirements for individuals seeking licensure, operating, working, or volunteering in healthcare facilities are intended to protect patient health, safety, and welfare, but that the existing statutory framework may lack clarity and consistency regarding responsibility, scope, and process. Clarifying statutory roles, standards, and procedures for background checks will reduce administrative burdens while maintaining patient safety.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying and updating definitions relating to background checks, including:

(A) Repealing the definitions of "background check", "criminal history record name inquiry", and "name inquiry", and defining "fingerprint-based background checks" and "name-based background checks"; and

(B) Clarifying the terms "direct patient access worker", "healthcare facility", and "third-party employer";

(2) Amending language that would have authorized applicants, operators, and third-party employers to conduct background checks, but authorizing licensed hospitals to conduct required name-based background checks;

(3) Specifying background check requirements, including by requiring one-time fingerprint-based background checks, initial name-based background checks, and biennial name-based background checks;

(4) Clarifying that disqualifying information identified through a background check may be determined not to be disqualifying following an appeal process;

(5) Clarifying how background check information shall be used to determine suitability for working or serving in a healthcare facility; and

(6) 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2576, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2576, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair