Bill Text: HI SB2976 | 2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Private Trade, Vocational, and Technical Schools; Department of Education; Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-03-24 - Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) McDermott voting no (1) and Representative(s) Kawakami, Kong, Oshiro, Tokioka, Tupola, Woodson excused (6). [SB2976 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2016-SB2976-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2976 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016 |
S.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
H.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO LICENSING OF PRIVATE TRADE, VOCATIONAL, AND TECHNICAL SCHOOL.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Private trade, vocational, and technical schools provide specialized training for a number of professions in the State, including those in massage therapy, healthcare, tax preparation, and maritime activities. Section 302A-425, Hawaii Revised Statutes, prohibits these schools and other private organizations or corporations from operating prior to being licensed by the department of education. The department of education has had this responsibility since 1939, when the focus of the regulation was to ensure the quality of education and instruction at those schools providing post-secondary training below the college level.
Act 57, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, amended section 302A-425, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to declare that the purpose of the regulation is to protect consumers from false, deceptive, misleading, and unfair practices and to ensure adequate educational quality. Auditor's Report No. 02-08, A Study on the Licensing of Private Trade, Vocational, and Technical Schools, acknowledged that the declaration of purpose added to section 302A-425, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by Act 57, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, brought into question the appropriateness of the program's administrative placement within the department of education.
During the regular session of 2015, the legislature passed S.C.R. No. 46, S.D. 2, requesting the department of commerce and consumer affairs and department of education to convene a working group to evaluate and review the current licensing program for private trade, vocational, and technical schools. The working group collaborated to gather information and develop findings and recommendations. The working group jointly recommended that the licensure program be narrowed in scope, but were unable to come to any other joint recommendations.
However, the department of education is no longer an appropriate location for such a licensing program. The department of education's primary mission is educating students in grades kindergarten through twelve, and it lacks experience providing post-secondary education and regulating post-secondary institutions. The department of education does not have the capacity or expertise in the specialized curricula of the various private trade, vocational, and technical schools currently under its licensing jurisdiction to effectively administer the requirements of section 302A-425, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
The department of commerce and consumer affairs has established licensing and regulation processes, consistent with its mission of consumer protection, and several trade and vocational schools now receive state licensure for business operations through the department of commerce and consumer affairs. Consequently, the regulation and licensing of private trade, vocational, and technical schools at the post-secondary level belongs more appropriately within the department of commerce and consumer affairs.
The purpose of this Act is to transfer the licensing and regulation program for private trade, vocational, and technical schools from the department of education to the department of commerce and consumer affairs.
SECTION 2. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"Chapter
private trade, vocational, and technical schools
§ -1 Purpose. The purpose of the licensing and regulation program for private trade, vocational, and technical schools is to protect consumers against practices by such schools that are false, deceptive, misleading, or unfair, and to help ensure adequate educational quality.
§ -2 License required for private trade, vocational, or technical school. (a) No private trade, vocational, or technical school shall be operated by any person or persons, firm, or any other private organization or corporation for the purpose of teaching any trade, occupation, or vocation unless there is first secured from the department of commerce and consumer affairs a license issued in accordance with this chapter and in a form as the department of commerce and consumer affairs may direct.
(b) This chapter shall only apply to those private trade, vocational, and technical schools that require licensure for the purpose of offering federal student aid, educational grants, or other funding sources requiring state-level licensure, or for fulfilling professional licensure requirements for students. The determination shall be made by the department of commerce and consumer affairs.
§ -3 License; fees. (a) The department of commerce and consumer affairs shall issue a license to a private trade, vocational, or technical school subject to this chapter that pays the appropriate fees and complies with all requirements of this chapter and any rules adopted by the department of commerce and consumer affairs.
(b) The department of commerce and consumer affairs shall determine an appropriate fee structure, to include separate fees for an initial application and renewal application, for the licensing of private trade, vocational, and technical schools subject to this chapter.
§ -4 Suspension and revocation of license; procedure. (a) The department of commerce and consumer affairs, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, may suspend or revoke a license at any time when, in the judgment of the department of commerce and consumer affairs, the licensee is not complying with this chapter or the rules adopted thereunder by the department of commerce and consumer affairs. The notice of hearing shall be served personally or sent to the licensee by registered or certified mail with return receipt at the licensee's last known address.
(b) Notice of suspension or revocation shall be served personally upon the licensee or sent to the licensee by registered or certified mail with return receipt, and the licensee shall forward the licensee's license at once to the department of commerce and consumer affairs and immediately cease to operate the private trade, vocational, or technical school.
(c) All proceedings shall be subject to chapter 91.
§ -5 Penalty. Any person, firm, or corporation that violates the requirements of this chapter shall be fined not more than $100, or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both, for each violation.
§ -6 Rules. The department of commerce and consumer affairs shall adopt rules, pursuant to chapter 91, to carry out this chapter's purpose and enforcement."
SECTION 3. Section 302A-101, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:
1. By amending the definition of "license" to read:
""License" means the recognition
granted by the Hawaii teacher standards board to an individual to practice the
profession of teaching. [This definition shall not apply to the term
"license" as it is used in sections 302A-425 to 302A-427.]"
2. By deleting the definition of "private trade, vocational, or technical school".
[""Private trade, vocational, or
technical school" means any plan or method used by any person or persons,
firm, or any other organization or corporation for giving instruction in any
form or manner in any trade, occupation, or vocation for a consideration,
reward, or promise of whatever nature, including correspondence schools located
within the State, except as follows:
(1) Schools maintained, or classes
conducted, by employers for their own employees where no fee or tuition is charged;
(2) Courses of instruction given by any
fraternal society, benevolent order, or professional organization to its
members, which courses are not operated for profit;
(3) Flying schools qualified under the
Federal Aviation Administration;
(4) Classes conducted for less than five
students at one and the same time;
(5) Classes or courses of instruction that
are conducted for twenty or fewer class sessions during any twelve-month
period;
(6) Avocational, hobby, recreation, or
health classes or courses;
(7) Courses of instruction on religious
subjects given under the auspices of a religious organization; and
(8) Schools registered by the department of
commerce and consumer affairs or by boards and commissions placed in the
department of commerce and consumer affairs for administrative purposes."]
SECTION 4. Section 302A-424, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["[§302A-424] Regulation of other
schools and classes. The department, at its discretion, may
regulate schools, classes, or courses excepted from the definition of
"private trade, vocational, or technical school"."]
SECTION 5. Section 302A-425, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§302A-425 License required for
private trade, vocational, or technical school. No private trade,
vocational, or technical school shall be operated by any person or persons,
firm, or any other private organization or corporation for the purpose of
teaching any trade, occupation, or vocation unless there is first secured from
the department a license issued in accordance with sections 302A-424 to
302A-428 and in such form as the department may direct. The purpose of the
licensing and regulation is to protect consumers against practices by private
trade, vocational, or technical schools that are false, deceptive, misleading,
or unfair, and to help ensure adequate educational quality at private trade,
vocational, or technical schools."]
SECTION 6. Section 302A-426, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["[§302A-426] Suspension and
revocation of license; procedure. (a) The department, after notice
and opportunity for a hearing, may suspend or revoke a license at any time
when, in the judgment of the department, the licensee is not complying with
sections 302A-424 to 302A-428 or the rules that may be adopted by the board.
The notice of hearing shall be served personally or sent to the licensee by
registered or certified mail with return receipt at the licensee's last known
address.
(b) Notice of suspension or revocation
shall be served personally upon the licensee or sent to the licensee by
registered or certified mail with return receipt, and the licensee shall
forward the licensee's license at once to the department, and cease at once to
operate the private trade, vocational, or technical school.
(c) All proceedings shall be subject to
chapter 91."]
SECTION 7. Section 302A-427, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["[§302A-427] Powers of department.
No license shall be issued under sections 302A-424 to 302A-428 until the
department has approved the method and content of the advertising, the
standards and the methods of instruction, and the equipment provided. The
department may consult with trade or vocational experts as to the equipment
provided and the standards and methods of instruction offered. The department
may adopt reasonable rules relating to the enforcement of sections 302A-424 to
302A-428."]
SECTION 8. Section 302A-428, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["[§302A-428] Penalty.
Any person, firm, or corporation that violates sections 302A-424 to 302A-428
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, but shall be subject to a maximum fine of not
more than $100 or imprisonment for not more than ninety days, or both."]
SECTION 9. All rights, powers, functions, and duties previously performed by the department of education under sections 302A-424 to 302A-428, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are transferred to the professional vocational licensing division of the department of commerce and consumer affairs; provided that the department of education shall retain the department's existing rights, powers, functions, and duties until July 1, 2018.
SECTION 10. All rules, policies, procedures, guidelines, and other material adopted or developed by the department of education to implement the provisions of sections 302A-424 to 302A-428, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be repealed upon transfer to the department of commerce and consumer affairs.
SECTION 11. All deeds, leases, contracts, loans, agreements, permits, or other documents executed or entered into by or on behalf of the department of education pursuant to sections 302A-424 to 302A-428, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall remain in full force and effect. Upon the transfer on July 1, 2018, every reference to the department of education or the superintendent of education in those deeds, leases, contracts, loans, agreements, permits, or other documents shall be construed as a reference to the department of commerce and consumer affairs or the director of commerce and consumer affairs, as appropriate.
SECTION 12. The department of education and the department of commerce and consumer affairs shall collaborate to implement the transfers and transitions on July 1, 2018, required under this Act with as little disruption as possible to ongoing duties, responsibilities, and public services provided.
SECTION 13. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.
SECTION 14. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050; provided that sections 2 to 11 shall take effect on July 1, 2050.
Report Title:
Private Trade, Vocational, and Technical Schools; Department of Education; Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
Description:
Transfers administration of the licensing and regulation program for private trade, vocational, and technical schools from the Department of Education to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. (SB2976 HD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
