STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1084

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 14

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 14 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO CONDUCT A SUNRISE ANALYSIS OF LACTATION CONSULTANT LICENSURE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Auditor to conduct a sunrise analysis of the licensing of lactation consultants.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Lokahi Lactation LLC, Mother's Milk LLC, and five individuals.

Your Committee finds that increasing access to maternal health care in the State is critical for ensuring the health and well-being of mothers and their infants. Your Committee further finds that a lactation consultant is a health care professional who specializes in the clinical management of lactation and feeding, trained to assist mothers in preventing and solving breastfeeding difficulties. Your Committee finds, however, that existing state law does not require lactation consultants to be licensed, certified, registered, or otherwise regulated by the State. Your Committee also finds that the current high out‑of‑pocket costs for lactation consulting services present a significant barrier for many families to access the much needed services. Requiring licensure and regulation of lactation consulting services in the State will ensure a standardized high‑level of care and enable the services to be reimbursable under private and public health insurance plans, making high‑quality lactation consulting services more affordable and accessible to families throughout the State.

Accordingly, the Legislature introduced S.B. No. 317 during the Regular Session of 2025, which proposes to establish the Board of Lactation Consultants and require lactation consultants to be licensed by the Board. Section 26H-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires new measures subjecting unregulated professions and vocations to licensing or other regulatory controls to be referred to the Auditor for analysis. This measure requests the Auditor to analyze the licensure and regulation of lactation consultants proposed in S.B. No. 317 to satisfy this statutory requirement.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting references to S.B. No. 317, introduced during the Regular Session of 2025, as the specific legislative bill that the Auditor is requested to analyze; and

(2) 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 Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 14, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 14, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair