STAND

STAND. COM. REP. 469

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 422

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Higher Education and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 422 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO A CENTER FOR NURSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to establish a center for nursing (Center) at the University of Hawaii (UH).

The UH School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, Hawaii Government Employees Association, Hawaii Nurses' Association, and two individuals submitted testimony in support of this bill. The Board of Nursing submitted testimony in support of the intent of this bill. The Department of Budget and Finance and Healthcare Association of Hawaii submitted testimony in opposition to this bill. Kaiser Permanente submitted comments on this bill.

Your Committees find that there is a serious nursing shortage in Hawaii that affects patient care as well as the morale of nurses. The Center proposed by this bill will ensure that data is gathered on the nursing profession in Hawaii that can be made available to the State and private agencies.

Your Committees have amended this bill by:

(1) Clarifying the purpose of the bill;

(2) Including the Directors of Health and Labor and Industrial Relations, or their designees, on the board of directors (Board) for the Center;

(3) Reducing the number of Board members from the business and labor community from five to four;

(4) Reducing the number of Board members from the nursing profession from five to four;

(5) Specifying that the Board shall employ an executive director and no more than two other staff positions;

(6) Changing the effective date of the bill to July 1, 2020, to facilitate further discussion; and

(7) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for purposes of style and clarity.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Higher Education and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 422, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 422, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Higher Education and Health,

____________________________ DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair		____________________________ K. MARK TAKAI, Chair