POLITICAL
ACTION
Chair,
Legislative Committee
It’s time for a mini-celebration! Our social work bill, HB1146 SD 2, and our
resolution, HCR 265 HD1, have successfully passed the House and Senate
committees. The next step is for
Governor Lingle to sign or at least not veto the bill. Bills can
become law without the Governor’s signature after 45 days. We remain hopeful since DHRD (Department
of Human Resources) has indicated that
they are not opposed to the bill or resolution. If the Governor signs or doesn’t veto our bill, it will be time
for a large-scale celebration! However
should the Governor veto the bill, we still have the resolution which in effect
reflects the bill’s language.
Resolutions do not need to be signed by the Governor and is the primary
reason we thought it necessary to have a back-up just in case!
HB 1146 SD 2 and HCR 265 HD1 reflect the
agreement arrived at between NASW, HGEA, the schools of social work, and
DHRD. The agreement includes the
following points:
1) As
of July 1, 2005, DHRD will re-establish the Social Worker series and revise the
requirements to allow only persons who possess a bachelors, masters, or
doctoral degrees in social work from accredited programs of social work to be
in that series;
2) The
establishment of a separate Human Service Professional series for persons who do not have social work degrees;
3) The requirement that DHRD and stakeholders
develop a plan to allow current employees in the Social Worker series who do
not possess social work degrees to remain in the Social Worker series but work
toward obtaining a social work degree by 2010.
Those who do not earn their degree by this date, will be placed in the
Human Service Professional series;
4) The intent of the Legislature to require
licensure for State social workers in the future and appropriate compensation
for those who are licensed;
5)
The preference for social workers to provide services to the public;
6) A
report back to the Legislature twenty days prior to the convening of the 2006
Legislative session.
For those of you who are not familiar with
the situation which resulted in our legislative action, let me briefly outline
events. In response to the high number
of social worker vacancies in various state departments, DHRD intended to eliminate the Social Work
(SW) series and create a Human Service Professional (HSP) series with broader
minimum qualifications that would include individuals with a related behavioral
degree. Following several meetings with
NASW, the local schools of social work, and HGEA, DHRD agreed to a dual
classification (SW/HSP). We were
hopeful that this compromise would serve both the issue of recruitment of
workers for the state as well as title protection for social workers. However, we were subsequently informed that
individuals hired into this classification could use either title, Social
Worker or Human Service Professional regardless of educational background. NASW
could not condone the misuse of our professional title and decided to work with
the Legislature on this matter. We also
felt that having social workers in the House and the Senate (Rep. Ryan Yamane
and Sen. Brian Kanno) would improve our chances of passing legislation this
session. Luckily, with everyone’s effort, we were successful!!
Along with NASW’s efforts to support state
social workers, we have also been active with other community groups and
coalitions in lobbying Legislators and providing testimony supporting issues
such as increasing welfare payments, oversight of the state budget and TANF
funds, earned income credit, increasing the minimum wage, funding for Hawaii’s
safety net, resources for the homeless, mental health parity, prescriptive
authority for psychologists in rural areas, death with dignity, gender
responsive programs for female offenders, vendorship for marriage and family
therapists, and funds for UH distance learning program.
Bills which have passed this session include
raising the minimum wage; using the “Rainy Day” fund to support safety net
non-profit agencies and programs; and gender responsive programs for female
offenders. As with the social work
bill, those passed must be signed or not vetoed by the Governor. Another hurdle is whether the Governor
releases the monies to support the intent of the bills. This is definitely an area of concern as she
failed to release funding in support of safety net agencies and programs last
year.
Now that we are at the end of session, I’d
like to take this opportunity to thank our tireless Executive Director, Debbie
Shimizu, for her participation on community groups and coalitions reflecting
NASW’s social policy concerns; her knowledge of the political process; her
lobbying efforts through the years which opens Legislators’ doors and minds;
and her willingness to sit through long hearings and wait until 11:00 pm, for
decision-making!
I’d also like to thank our Legislators, Rep.Yamane and Sen. Kanno and
their staff for drafting and supporting our social work bills and for all of
the legislation which supports Hawaii’s vulnerable. A special thanks goes to Kathy Piscusa from the DOE, and
the School Social Workers who sent in testimony for every hearing that was held
on the social work bills and resolution, and their attendance at hearings. Mahalo to Jeannette Matsumoto, Renee
Furuyama, Darrin Sato, Dr. Susan Chandler, Alex Santiago, and Dr. Mary
Sheridan for their support on the Legislative Committee and at the
Legislature. And a special thanks to Kevin
Mulligan (MSW) from HGEA, who committed a huge amount of time and energy to
our cause.
Overall it has been a most challenging session, but rewarding as well. We have established closer relationships with many of the Legislators through our lobbying efforts and support at their fundraisers. We were successful in working out a compromise with DHRD on reestablishing the Social Worker series and title protection. We were also a part of passing the safety net bill which has been a NASW priority for the past two sessions. If any of you have questions or would like to become active with the Legislative Committee next year please contact Debbie at 521-1787. All are welcomed!
* And a BIG MAHALO to Sharon Otagaki, Chair
of our Legislative Committee who spent many hours in meetings, attending hearings,
visiting legislators, writing testimony and newsletter articles to keep you
informed.