STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2877

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2281

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 2281, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PSYCHOLOGY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish licensure requirements for school psychologists to be administered by the Board of Psychology;

(2) Require all school psychologists to be licensed by July 1, 2025; and

(3) Increase the composition of the Board of Psychology to include two school psychologists.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Association of School Psychologists, Hawai‘i State Teachers Association, Hui for Excellence in Education Coalition, and thirteen individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education, Board of Psychology, and the Hawai‘i Psychological Association.

Your Committee finds that Hawai‘i is the only state in the country without credentialing requirements for school psychologists. Statistically, students with special learning needs are at a higher risk for a number of negative outcomes. Your Committee therefore finds that licensure is important for all professionals who are entrusted to care for students and that specialized training and expertise should be required in the practice of psychology to ensure protection of the public.

Your Committee notes the concerns raised in testimony that school psychologists may benefit from having a separate regulatory board rather than being incorporated into the Board of Psychology. Amendments to this measure are therefore necessary to establish an interim framework for licensure, but to also provide an opportunity for the Department of Education to collaborate with the Board of Psychology to develop a permanent licensing scheme appropriate for school psychologists.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that, beginning January 1, 2023, no person shall engage in the practice of school psychology without having first obtained an interim license from the Board of Psychology;

(2) Clarifying that a school psychologist shall meet the continuing education requirements by obtaining twenty-five credit hours, with not less than ten of those hours accredited by the National Association of School Psychologists annually;

(3) Requiring the Board of Psychology and the Department of Education to collaborate to develop a permanent licensing scheme for school psychologists in the State and to submit a report to the Legislature of their findings and recommendations no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2023;

(4) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2022; and

(5) 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 Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2281, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2281, S.D. 2.

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

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair