STAND. COM. REP. NO. 934
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: S.B. No. 568
S.D. 1
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2005
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 568 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DENTISTS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to authorize the licensure of dental specialists by credentials.
The Board of Dental Examiners (Board) and numerous individuals testified in support of this measure. The Hawaii Dental Association and numerous individuals opposed the measure.
Your Committee finds that administration of the Board of Dental Examiners' clinical dentistry exam at Pearl Harbor was suspended following the 2001 terrorist attacks that resulted in greater security on the nation's military bases, and that the exam has been suspended indefinitely pending the development of a national clinical exam and a change in state law to recognize the national exam. In the interim, persons seeking licensure in the State as a dentist must, at considerable inconvenience and expense, take a regional exam or another state's clinical exam, even if the person is already licensed by another state to practice dentistry.
This measure would implement licensure by credentials for dental specialists and permit the licensure of dental specialists without requiring passage of the state examination if the license applicant has graduated from an accredited dental specialty program and is licensed to practice dentistry in another state with licensing standards at least equivalent to Hawaii's licensing standards. To qualify for licensure without examination under this measure, applicants would be required to provide, among other things, proof of education, experience, and continuing education coursework, possession of an active license in good standing, and criminal and license discipline histories. Your Committee finds that this measure will facilitate access to specialized dental treatment without compromising consumer protection.
Your Committee has amended this measure:
(1) By deleting the requirements that an applicant submit a letter of intent to practice in the State and a third party affidavit attesting to the applicant's professional standing and moral character;
(2) To require that an applicant:
(a) Submit proof of completion of thirty-two, rather than thirty-five, hours of continuing education during the preceding two-year period;
(b) Have three, rather than five years of experience in the practice of dentistry, and submit proof of a minimum of one thousand hours of experience in dentistry for each of the three years;
(c) Submit a self-query report from the National Practitioners Data Bank, rather than a release for the disclosure of information; and
(d) Submit verification of passage of the National Board Dental Examination; and
(3) To disallow licensure without examination for an applicant who has failed the Hawaii dental examination within the five-year period preceding the date of application.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 568, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 568, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing,
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____________________________ RON MENOR, Chair |
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