STAND. COM. REP. NO. 693

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 1517
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which
was referred S.B. No. 1517 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ACUPUNCTURE PRACTITIONERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to allow acupuncture
practitioners to sit for the licensing examination if they have
graduated from a school that is in the process of applying for
candidacy for accreditation.

     The Board of Acupuncture, the Institute of Clinical
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and three individuals
presented testimony in support of this measure.  Hawaii College
of Health Sciences, Inc., and the Oriental Medical Institute of
Hawaii, while not present, submitted written testimony in
support.  Tai Hsuan Foundation and one individual testified in
opposition.  Three individuals, while not present, submitted
written testimony in opposition.

     Your Committee finds that three acupuncture schools in the
State are having difficulty meeting the deadline to achieve
candidacy status by September 1, 2000.  This is due in part to
the fact that the National Accreditation Commission for Schools
and Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine meets only
twice a year to review applications, as well as to lengthy
deadlines set by the Commission for the initial review.


 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 693
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     Your Committee has amended this measure to extend to July 1,
2001, the date acupuncture schools have to achieve accreditation
or candidacy for accreditation, and to delete the new language
that would have included an acupuncture school in the process of
applying for candidacy for accreditation.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to
this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and
purpose of S.B. No. 1517, as amended herein, and recommends that
it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B.
No. 1517, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third
Reading.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Commerce and
                                   Consumer Protection,



                                   ______________________________
                                   BRIAN KANNO, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Co-Chair

 
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