STAND. COM. REP. NO. 418

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 490

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 490 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NURSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require:

     (1)  The Professional and Vocational Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and State Board of Nursing to collaborate with the Center for Nursing to enable the Center to obtain nursing-related data;

     (2)  The Professional and Vocational Licensing Division to provide the Center for Nursing with various types of information through a memorandum of understanding; and

     (3)  The completion of a survey developed by the Center for Nursing as part of the licensure renewal requirements of chapter 457, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing, St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii, Blood Bank of Hawaii, American Organization of Nurse Executives Hawaii Chapter, Hawai‘i Pacific Health, and eighteen individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from four individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure.  The Center for Nursing's surveys related to nursing programs, registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses are a valuable way to collect nursing-related data.

     Your Committee understands the concerns raised in the testimony but believes that this measure deserves further consideration.  In addition, your Committee would like to allow the Board of Nursing the opportunity to review and address this measure at the Board's next public meeting, as it has not yet had a chance to collectively do so.

     As such, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to allow for further discussion; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Higher Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 490, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 490, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Higher Education,

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair