STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2856

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 53

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 53 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING COLLABORATION AMONG VARIOUS STATE AGENCIES TO IDENTIFY AND REMOVE BARRIERS RELATING TO WORKFORCE DATA SHARING AND NURSING PRACTICE IN THE STATE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request various state agencies to:

     (1)  Identify and remove barriers that prevent the State Board of Nursing and the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division from fully implementing recent legislation relating to nursing; and

     (2)  Report on efforts to identify and remove barriers that prevent the Hawaii State Center for Nursing from sharing its data.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hawaii State Center for Nursing, University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, Hawaii Association of Professional Nurses, The Queen's Medical Center, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, Hawaii Long Term Care Association, and eight individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Legislative Reference Bureau and the Board of Nursing.

     Your Committees find that the Hawaii State Center for Nursing provides education, service, and research through collaborative leadership.  The Center has become a valuable resource for nursing information and research, including nursing workforce development efforts and the implementation of a nurse residency program.  Your Committees further find that the collaboration requested by this measure will bring about cost-effective, innovative solutions that will ultimately benefit Hawaii consumers.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Requesting the State Board of Nursing, the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, the Department of the Attorney General, and the Hawaii State Center for Nursing to transmit a draft report of the agencies' findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislative Reference Bureau no later than November 1, 2012;

     (2)  Requesting the Legislative Reference Bureau to submit a final report of the agencies' findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2013; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 53, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 53, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair

____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair