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Committee passes pharmacy workforce center measure with amendment after governance and fee questions
Summary
Lawmakers passed HB2161 with amendments to defect the effective date and requested statutory clarifications after pharmacy stakeholders proposed a workforce center and a modest licensure fee ($100 biennially) to fund data collection and workforce planning.
The joint education and consumer protection committees on March 25 adopted a chair recommendation to pass House Bill 2161 with amendments that defer the effective date and call for technical edits. The bill would establish the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy Special Fund and a pharmacists workforce assessment fee intended to fund workforce assessments and planning.
Corey Sanders, executive director of the Hawaii Pharmacists Association, said the state lacks consistent pharmacy workforce data and that a modest fee is needed to fund a center. "Unlike nursing and medicine, pharmacy doesn't have a workforce assessment fee tacked into our licensure fees... we've had no pushback from the profession," Sanders said, noting the proposed fee was discussed as $100 every two years (about $50 per year).
Committee members asked whether there is documented statewide pharmacist shortage, how the center would be governed, who would hire staff and whether the center would operate independently of the University of Hawaii. Sanders said current data are limited to counts of pharmacists by island and that specialty pharmacy roles are difficult to fill; he recommended a board governance structure with stakeholders and offered to work on statutory amendments to clarify accountability and board appointments.
Members raised concerns about the timing of data collection — whether the fee should precede an assessment of need — and asked for clearer statutory language on governance to avoid the center becoming an extension of the university. Sanders said the association is open to including a gubernatorial-appointed board or other statutory accountability language if the committee wishes.
The chairs recommended amending HB2161 to further defect the effective date to July 31, 2055 and to make technical and non‑substantive amendments; the committee adopted the recommendation. Committee records noted excused absences and that the measure would include additional committee concerns in the report for the next committee to review.
