STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2556

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2080

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 2080 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE PSYCHOLOGY INTERJURISDICTIONAL COMPACT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Adopt the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact to regulate the practice of telepsychology and temporary in-person, face‑to‑face practice of psychology by psychologists across state boundaries in the performance of their psychological practice; and

(2) Require the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to adopt rules to implement and administer the Compact.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, State Health Planning and Development Agency, Hawaii Association of Health Plans, and Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Board of Psychology and one individual.

Your Committees find that residents in the State are in great need of mental health services, with approximately 234,000 adults in the State having a mental health condition. However, many residents struggle to find adequate mental health care due to a shortage of mental health care professionals. Recent studies have found that the State has a sixty-seven percent shortage of adult psychiatrists, a sixty-four percent shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists, and that nearly half a million of the State's residents live in a community that lacks sufficient mental health professionals. Your Committees further find that the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, or "PSYPACT", facilitates the practice of psychology across state boundaries while maintaining professional standards and regulatory oversight, thereby exponentially increasing access to needed mental health care with licensed psychologists. Since the inception of PSYPACT in 2020, more than forty states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have joined the Compact, and years of successful implementation supports PSYPACT's safety and effectiveness. This measure will reduce unnecessary cross-state barriers, preserve strong consumer protections through coordinated oversight, and improve timely access to mental health treatment for the State's residents.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Delaying the implementation of the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact until two years after the effective date of this measure;

(2) Inserting an effective date of January 30, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2080, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2080, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection,

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair