STAND. COM. REP. NO.437

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 695

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 695 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a professional counselor licensing program within the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA).

Testimony in support of this measure was received from Hawaii Youth Services Network, Hawaii Rehabilitation Counseling Association, Child and Family Service, Hawaii Vocational Services, Alliance for Professional Counselor Licensure, Hawaii Counseling Association, Career Development Center of Hawaii, Inc., Lynn C. Fox and Associates, Inc., Kaiser Permanente, and nine individuals. The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hawaii Government Employees Association, and two individuals testified in opposition to the measure. The Department of Education expressed concerns about the measure.

There are currently over five hundred counselors in the State who provide mental health, rehabilitation, career, and school counseling, yet Hawaii is among a handful of states that have yet to establish minimum standards and guidelines for the practice of professional counseling. Licensure, as established in this measure, would require persons holding themselves out as licensed professional counselors to have a master's or doctoral degree in counseling and supervised counseling experience, and to have passed a national examination. Applicants or licensees who fail to meet certain standards of conduct will be subject to license denial, suspension, or revocation.

Your Committee finds that licensure will help to ensure that persons providing counseling services in the State have the necessary skills and qualifications, thereby enhancing consumer protection. Your Committee also finds that, as federal programs increasingly require services to be provided by licensed professionals, adopting a licensure program will broaden the pool of qualified professionals available to provide needed services.

Concerns were expressed to your Committee that adoption of this measure will aggravate counselor shortages in certain fields, including vocational rehabilitation counseling, because it would disqualify counselors in the public sector who have years of experience in their field, but who lack a master's degree. Therefore, your Committee has amended this measure:

(1) To exempt from the licensure requirement persons employed in counseling positions by a federal, state, or county government agency;

(2) By inserting a defective effective date of July 1, 2050 to facilitate further discussion; and

(3) By making technical amendments for purposes of clarity and style, and to correct an internal statutory reference.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 695, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 695, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

____________________________

RON MENOR, Chair