STAND. COM. REP. 590

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 1160

H.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 1160 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE EXAMINATION FOR LICENSURE AS A CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to permit the Board of Public Accountancy (Board) to use the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ computer-based licensing examination.

Testimony in support of this bill was submitted by the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. A concerned certified public accountant (CPA) offered comments and suggested an amendment.

Your Committee finds that the Board currently offers paper-and-pencil CPA licensing examinations twice a year. By enabling the Board to replace the current licensing system with a computer-based system, this bill will increase the times that applicants may sit for the examination. Your Committee believes this will allow more CPAs to become licensed each year and result in a larger CPA work force for our State.

Your Committee recognizes concerns that expanding the licensing process to include computer-based examination may open the door to examinations other than the Uniform CPA Examination and the Advisory Grading Service of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Heretofore, only individuals who have taken this examination and passed according to standards set by the AICPA grading service have qualified for license in this State.

In an effort to ensure these standards continue to be upheld, your Committee has amended this measure to require that the Board use the Uniform CPA Examination and the Advisory Grading Service of AICPA.

A technical, nonsubstantive amendment has been made for clarity.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1160, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1160, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

 

____________________________

KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair