RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (Department) is statutorily directed to set standards and administer and enforce laws and rules governing the conduct of trades, businesses, and professions throughout the state; and

WHEREAS, section 26H-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, sets forth the policies of the Legislature with regard to regulation of professions and vocations and provides, among other things, that:

1. Regulation and licensing of professions shall be undertaken only where reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety, or welfare of consumers, and shall be adopted or retained only when the consumer's health, safety, or welfare may be jeopardized by the nature of the service offered by the provider;
2. The purpose of regulation shall be the protection of the public welfare and not that of the regulated profession or vocation; and
3. Regulation shall not unreasonably restrict entry into professions and vocations by all qualified persons; and

WHEREAS, 25 professional and vocational regulatory boards and commissions are administratively attached to the Department, most of which are authorized to develop requirements governing licensure and retention of a license; and

WHEREAS, an additional 21 programs regulating professions and vocations have been placed within the jurisdiction of the Department, which is in most cases authorized to develop requirements for licensure and for retention of a license; and

WHEREAS, the Department is committed to removing barriers to business and job growth and to cutting unnecessary regulations, wherever doing so will not jeopardize consumer health and safety; and

WHEREAS, the Department, in cooperation with its regulatory boards and commissions, has attempted to change its licensing laws and rules for the purposes of reducing and streamlining regulation; and

WHEREAS, it has nevertheless been argued that some of the regulatory programs overseen by the Department and its boards and commissions may serve to unjustifiably increase the costs of goods and services to consumers and unreasonably restrict entry into professions and vocations by all qualified persons; and

WHEREAS, it has also been argued that the regulatory programs overseen by the Department and its boards and commissions have, in some recent instances, increased in number and in scope and in explicit contravention of conclusions drawn by the Auditor that such regulation is unnecessary; and

WHEREAS, a broader frame of reference is needed to determine whether the Department’s professional and vocational regulatory programs are reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety, or welfare of consumers, do not unreasonably restrict entry into the professions or vocations, and do not serve any anti-competitive purpose;

WHEREAS, a comparative analysis of professional and vocational regulation in other states and in Hawaii will serve to identify areas where Hawaii imposes educational, testing, experience, or other requirements that are more burdensome than national norms; and

WHEREAS, the results of the comparative analysis will help to focus further analysis of Hawaii's professional and vocational regulatory requirements, to determine whether these requirements are necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of consumers; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct a comparative analysis of professional and vocational regulation in other states and in Hawaii, including educational, testing, experience, or other requirements, and to determine whether any such requirements are necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of consumers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor report findings and recommendations based on the comparative analysis of the regulatory programs of other states and of the 25 regulatory boards and commissions administratively attached to the Department to the Legislature no later than 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor report findings and recommendations based on the comparative analysis of the regulatory programs of other states and of the 21 licensing programs under the Department’s jurisdiction to the Legislature no later than 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor and the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

Report Title:

DCCA REGULATION OF PROFESSIONS AND VOCATIONS