STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1187-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 2779

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 2779, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRADITIONAL HAWAIIAN HEALING PRACTICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to contribute to the preservation and continuation of traditional Hawaiian healing practices.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Your Committee finds that traditional Hawaiian healing is a dying art that should be preserved.

This bill:

(1) Renames the panel that recognizes and certifies traditional Hawaiian healers whose healing practices are exempt from the medicine and surgery licensing law, the Elders' Council;

(2) Provides that nothing shall adversely affect rights of practice of traditional Hawaiian healing pursuant to the State Constitution;

(3) Amends Act 162, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, which provided that Papa Ola Lokahi convene the Elders' Council to address issues relating to the exemption and certification of Hawaiian healers, by providing that:

(A) The Elders' Council is to be independent of the State and exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act and sunshine law, and must develop policies and procedures without regard to the Administrative Procedure Act; and

(B) Allows the Elders' Council to convene other Elders' Councils in the event that Papa Ola Lokahi ceases to exist or is unable to act.

Your Committee has amended this bill by making it effective upon its approval.

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 S.B. No. 2779, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2779, S.D. 2, H.D. 1.

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

 

____________________________

KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair