STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2908

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 188

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 188 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to request the Auditor to conduct a sunrise review to regulate athletic trainers.

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

     S.B. No. 2601, S.D. 1, Regular Session of 2010, establishes a regulatory registration scheme for athletic trainers for the Auditor to review.

     There are currently one hundred sixty-five certified athletic trainers in the State of Hawaii.  The University of Hawaii-Manoa has an accredited athletic training curriculum.  Because the public has difficulty discerning the difference between athletic trainers, personal trainers, and boxing trainers, there is a risk that unqualified non-credentialed persons will represent themselves as "trainers" and mislead members of the public into believing that they are receiving care from health care professionals.  Hawaii is one of the few states without a registration requirement for athletic trainers.  Furthermore, there is no one to whom the National Athletic Trainers Association Board of Certification can report disciplinary actions to ensure that appropriate action is taken to protect the public.

     Your Committee has amended this measure and its title on the recommendation of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs by requesting a sunrise analysis of the requirement for occupational registration of certified athletic trainers, rather than a licensure scheme.  This takes into account the existing national professional certification system and makes this measure consistent with S.B. No. 2601, S.D. 1, which calls for the regulation of athletic trainers by means of registration.

     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. 188, 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. 188, S.D. 1.

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

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair