CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 32

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2019

RE: S.B. No. 385

S.D. 1

H.D. 2

C.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 385, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL LICENSING,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to repeal defaults on student loans, student loan repayment contracts, and scholarship contracts as grounds for denying professional and vocational licenses and sanctioning professional and vocational licensees.

Your Committee on Conference finds that Hawaii is one of only several states that allow the denial, revocation, or suspension of a professional or vocational license based on student loan defaults. This means that a licensee who has incurred tens of thousands of dollars in student loans for purposes of earning or obtaining a professional degree and passed all subsequent licensing examinations could be barred from practicing, thus making any prospect of repayment even more difficult. This measure aligns Hawaii with the majority of states by repealing student loan defaults as grounds for a license denial, suspension, or revocation.

Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

(1) Repealing language that allows the right to a hearing and appeal from an order suspending, revoking, or refusing to extend any license by the Insurance Commissioner;

(2) Reverting to the existing statutory language that requires the Insurance Commissioner, under certain conditions, to renew, reinstate, or grant an insurance producer's license only upon receipt of an authorization from the administering entity;

(3) Changing the effective date to upon approval; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 385, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 385, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ TAKASHI OHNO Co-Chair	____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER Chair
____________________________ ROY M. TAKUMI Co-Chair
____________________________ SCOTT Y. NISHIMOTO Co-Chair