STAND. COM. REP. NO. 650

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1150

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 1150 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH CARE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Expand the protections established under Act 2, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, to include gender-affirming health care services; and

(2) Clarify jurisdiction under the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act for cases involving children who obtain gender-affirming health care services.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General; one member of the Hawaiʻi County Council; Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Rainbow Family 808; QueerDoc; Hawaiʻi State LGBTQ+ Commission; Indivisible Hawaiʻi; Pride at Work–Hawaiʻi; Hawaii State AFL-CIO; AAUW of Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Association of Professional Nurses; Qwaves Media; Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʿi Health & Harm Reduction Center; Education Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Imua Alliance; Maui Law LLLC; Save Medicaid Hawaii; American Academy of Pediatrics-Hawaii Chapter; Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute; PFLAG Oʻahu; Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates–Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Nurses' Association–OPEIU Local 50; ACLU of Hawaiʻi; Lambda Law Hawaiʻi; UNITE HERE Local 5; Labor Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Evolve Health, LLC; IATSE Local 665; Sound Mind Psychiatry LLC; Kumukahi Health + Wellness; Hawaiʻi State Center for Nursing; and numerous individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Libertarian Party of Hawaii, Hawaii Family Forum, Free Citizens of Manalua, and numerous individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Judiciary and Office of Information Practices.

Your Committees find that every person in the State, regardless of their gender identity, should have access to the health care services they need free from fear, discrimination, and political interference. Your Committees further find that safeguarding access to health care also ensures economic stability and fosters equity and inclusion, values that align with Hawaii's longstanding cultural principles, and the labor community's commitment to justice. This measure provides significant legal and civil protections to individuals and entities providing and receiving gender-affirming care.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have allowed the presence of the child in the State for the purpose of obtaining gender-affirming health care services to be sufficient to establish jurisdiction for a court of the State to make an initial child-custody determination;

(2) Deleting language that would have authorized a court of the State to have temporary emergency jurisdiction over a child present in the State if it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care services;

(3) Inserting an effective date of December 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) 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 Health and Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1150, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1150, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

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

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair