STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1124

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 35

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 35 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING A SUNRISE REVIEW OF ATHLETIC TRAINERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request that the Auditor perform a sunrise review of the regulation of athletic trainers. 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the University of Hawaii, Hawaii Athletic Trainers Association, Hawaii Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association, and the Occupational Therapy Association of Hawaii.  Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committee finds that athletic trainers are employed in medical settings, public and private secondary schools, institutes of higher education, and fitness centers.  Your Committee finds that, due to the nature of the work performed by athletic trainers, some oversight of the profession is necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.  Your Committee further finds that although a resolution requesting that the State Auditor conduct a sunrise analysis was passed by the Legislature in 2005, that analysis has not yet been conducted.  Finally, your Committee notes that athletic trainers themselves are perhaps the strongest proponents of regulation and oversight of this profession since there is currently nothing in Hawaii law to prohibit an unskilled, unqualified, or unethical individual from practicing athletic training in such a way that could harm individual clients and tarnish the reputation of the profession as a whole. 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting the number of the Senate Bill to which this measure refers. 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 35, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 35, S.D. 1.

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

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair