STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1297-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2016

RE:   S.B. No. 2670

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Health and Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 2670 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BEHAVIOR ANALYSTS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to reduce the surcharge on behavior analyst license and renewal fees from $100 to $50.  

The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Keiki Educational Consultants, Inc., and two individuals testified in support of this measure.  The Department of Health, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Hawaii Association for Behavior Analysis, and Hawaii Disability Rights Center commented on this measure.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1)  Temporarily exempting from the licensing requirements for the practice of behavior analysis paraprofessional direct support workers who directly implement applied behavioral analysis intervention or assessment plans under supervision to clients under Medicaid home and community-based services pursuant to the Social Security Act through January 1, 2019;

(2)  Making the exemption apply retroactive to January 1, 2016;

(3)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2112, to facilitate further discussion; and

(4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Consumer Protection & Commerce that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2670, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2670, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Consumer Protection & Commerce,

____________________________ ANGUS L.K. McKELVEY, Chair

____________________________ DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair