STAND. COM. REP. NO. 88

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 506

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 506 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL LICENSING,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require licensing authorities to consider relevant education, training, or service completed by service members and permits authorities to issue a license by endorsement or reciprocity in certain situations.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, State Office of Veterans' Services, Oahu Veterans Center, and one individual.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Dental Association, Hawaii Association of Public Accountants, and numerous individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense.

 

     Your Committee finds that service members who move to Hawaii with a professional license from another state encounter obstacles to entering the work force.  Service members often face delays when applying for a license in Hawaii, even though they may meet requirements through education and training received while on active duty.  This measure supports transitioning service members and reflects the desire of the President of the United States in making the employment of military veterans a top priority.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 506, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 506, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

 

		____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair