STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1818

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 303

H.D. 2

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 303, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTHCARE PRECEPTORS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to, beginning January 1, 2026:

(1) Expand the definitions of "preceptor" and "volunteer‑based supervised clinical training rotation" to improve accessibility for providers to receive income tax credits for acting as preceptors, including removing "primary care" from the criteria to qualify as a preceptor;

(2) Add physician assistants, dietitians, and social workers to the list of preceptors and in the definition of "eligible student";

(3) Expand eligibility for the tax credit to include accredited residency programs that require preceptor support; and

(4) Revise the membership of the Preceptor Credit Assurance Committee to include the Director of Health and representatives of residency programs with eligible students.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, State Council on Mental Health, University of Hawaiʻi System, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Primary Care Association, The Queen's Health Systems, Hawaii Medical Association, Hawaiʻi – American Nurses Association, AlohaCare, Hawaiʻi Academy of Physician Assistants, Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing, Hawaii Pharmacists Association, Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, and seven individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Taxation, Tax Foundation of Hawaii, and Hawaiʻi Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Your Committees find that the current shortage of health care providers in the State is exacerbated by the lack of clinical education sites and the limited supply of qualified preceptors in the State. Preceptors are volunteer advanced practice registered nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and other health care professionals, or employed clinical providers, who volunteer their time to teach students during their workday, with no substantive changes to their workload or additional compensation for teaching, and who play an indispensable role in the education and training for the State's future health care workforce.

Your Committees note that findings from the five-year evaluation of the Hawaii Preceptor Tax Credit Program, conducted by the Preceptor Credit Assurance Committee, showed that offering income tax credits to preceptors contributed to a seventy-seven percent growth in the number of preceptors providing training and in eighty-four professionals becoming preceptors. This measure expands the eligibility criteria to allow additional health care professions to become preceptors and receive the tax credit, allowing more students to train and work in Hawaii, thereby contributing to the State's health care workforce.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying the definition of "nationally accredited" to include residency programs offered by the American Society of Health System Pharmacists; and

(2) 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 Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 303, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 303, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair