STAND. COM. REP. NO. 402

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 617

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Higher Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 617 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NURSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the establishment of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program at the University of Hawaii Maui College.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing; Hawaiʻi-American Nurses Association; Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; and nine individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from University of Hawaiʻi System and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the State faces a growing nursing workforce shortage. Your Committee further finds that Maui County is the largest county in the State without a college or university Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program. Your Committee believes that offering a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program at the University of Hawaii Maui College will increase the supply of nursing graduates, reduce the nursing workforce shortage, and allow Maui nursing students to remain on Maui during their entire course of study.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider the following appropriation amounts:

(1) $100,000 for fiscal year 2025-2026 and $60,000 for fiscal year 2026-2027 for prerequisite courses by students newly enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program at the University of Hawaii Maui College;

(2) $90,000 for fiscal year 2025-2026 and $60,000 for fiscal year 2026-2027 for additional personnel associated with establishment of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program at the University of Hawaii Maui College;

(3) $60,000 for fiscal year 2025-2026 and fiscal year 2026-2027 for supplies, equipment, and simulation and laboratory upgrades associated with establishment of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program at the University of Hawaii Maui College; and

(4) $250,000 for fiscal year 2026-2027 for instructional costs associated with providing a third year of nursing courses following the establishment of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program at the University of Hawaii Maui College.

Your Committee further requests your Committee on Finance to consider including the appropriations contained in this measure in the base budget of the University of Hawaii through the state budget.

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 H.B. No. 617, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 617, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

ANDREW TAKUYA GARRETT, Chair