STAND. COM. REP. NO.1078

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 422

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 422, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO A CENTER FOR NURSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a center for nursing at the University of Hawaii, governed by an advisory board, to research workforce issues for nurses and other assistive healthcare personnel. In addition, this measure establishes a fee, in addition to current nursing licensing fees, to be utilized for the center for nursing.

Testimony supporting this measure was received from the Board of Nursing, University of Hawaii School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, Hawaii Nurses' Association, Hawaii Government Employees Association, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, and two individuals. The Department of Budget and Finance opposed the creation of the center for nursing special fund provided in this measure.

Your Committees find that a nursing shortage exists and will continue into the next decade unless actions are taken to reverse the trend. It is anticipated that Hawaii will need to produce four hundred nurses each year for the next fifteen years to replace the number of nurses leaving the profession. Nurse shortages directly reduce the availability and quality of all health care services thereby threatening the health and welfare of the public. The State must make every effort to ensure that Hawaii's residents have adequate and high quality health care at all times. The establishment of a center for nursing will centralize data, research, and overall efforts to find a solution to the nurse shortage.

Your Committees have amended this measure this measure by:

(1) Specifying that the amount of the center for nursing fee shall be $40;

(2) Providing that the fee shall not be assessed after June 30, 2009;

(3) Changing its effective date from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2003; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments to reflect proper drafting style.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 422, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 422, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Education,

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair