STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1690

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: S.B. No. 1517
                                     S.D. 1
                                     H.D. 1



Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which
was referred S.B. No. 1517, S.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ACUPUNCTURE PRACTITIONERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to extend to July 1, 2001, the
effective date of the law that requires those sitting for the
acupuncture licensing examination to have graduated from
institutions that are accredited, or that are recognized as being
candidates for accreditation.

     Your Committee received testimony supporting this bill from
the Institute of Clinical Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
(ICAOM), the Student Body of ICAOM, and a student of ICAOM.
Testimony supporting the measure and suggesting amendments was
submitted by the Hawaii College of Health Sciences and the Board
of Acupuncture.

     Your Committee understands from the testimony submitted by
the Board of Acupuncture that three acupuncture schools believe
they may not be able to achieve candidacy status by the September
1, 2000, deadline under existing law, in part because of the
extensive processing requirements of the national accreditation
body, the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental
Medicine.  This bill would resolve the problem by extending the
deadline for accreditation or candidacy status to July 1, 2001.


 
 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1690
                                 Page 2

 
     Your Committee has replaced the contents of this bill with
that of its House companion, H.B. No. 1411, H.D. 1, that passed
out of your Committee earlier this session.  H.B. No. 1411, H.D.
1, addresses the problem of insufficient time to achieve
candidacy status, by retaining the September 1, 2000, deadline,
but allowing students of schools that are in the process of
applying for candidacy for accreditation to sit for the
acupuncture examination.  The House version also differs from the
Senate bill in technical, nonsubstantive ways.  To ensure further
discussion and optimal resolution of the issues underlying this
bill, your Committee has left its effective date blank.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to
this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and
purpose of S.B. No. 1517, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and
recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached
hereto as S.B. No. 1517, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be placed on the
calendar for Third Reading.

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



                                   ______________________________
                                   RON MENOR, Chair