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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Letters to the Editor

READERS RESPOND TO LINGLE'S POTENTIAL VETOES

HOUSE BILLS

HB 91

BOARD URGES GOVERNOR TO VETO CPA MEASURE

The Board of Public Accountancy strongly urges Gov. Linda Lingle to veto HB 91, as the bill is both anti-competitive and limits job options for Hawai'i's youth.

Marilyn Niwao's letter of July 4 ignores the fact that HB 91 would make Hawai'i the only state to not allow CPA candidates the option of using experience in the private or governmental sectors to qualify for licensure, and thus make it harder to secure the credential.

Contrary to Ms. Niwao's claim, the state Board of Public Accountancy is vigilant about ensuring that CPA applicants have legally mandated experience.

Applicants for licensure are required to submit a letter signed by a licensed CPA describing the experience gained under that CPA's supervision. An applicant's experience undergoes several levels of screening by the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs before it even gets to the Board of Public Accountancy, which reviews it in accordance with its two pages of rules describing qualifying experience.

Ms. Niwao is incorrect. Not everyone who applies gets licensed and most definitely not with "any kind" of experience.

HB 91 limits the options of consumers and limits the options and job opportunities of young people who are attempting to gain entry into the accounting profession.

Howard S. Todo
Chair, Board of Public Accountancy

URGES GOVERNOR TO SIGN CPA-LICENSE MEASURE

Misinformation has been used to support vetoing HB 91. This bill requires potential CPAs to have two years of CPA firm experience to ensure that they learn to apply accounting and auditing standards.

Work in government or private industry is not equivalent to CPA firm experience, and the investing, lending and financial community is at risk without the assurance that their accountants are qualified to serve the general public. The argument that this requirement limits access to CPA licensure is false — plenty of positions are available in CPA firms.

Also questioned is the provision for taking the CPA examination before completing the required education. But the examination is just one element of the certification process. Allowing this challenges students to determine whether they have sufficient desire to pursue a CPA career. In the unlikely event that a student passes, he or she must still meet the education and experience requirements before being certified and licensed as a public accountant.

To restore the high standards of the profession and protect the interest of the public, I urge Gov. Linda Lingle to sign this bill.

Joseph L. Wikoff, CPA
Honolulu

HB 436

CHIROPRACTIC MEASURE SHOULD BE VETOED

The governor has stated her intent to veto HB 436, which would mandate that Medicaid and QUEST cover chiropractic services. I support the veto of this bill.

Medicaid and QUEST are intended to be basic medical assistance programs. Chiropractic services are not basic medical services that should be included in this "safety net" state program.

The stated purpose of this bill is to "improve healthcare access in Hawai'i by requiring medical assistance programs such as QUEST and Medicaid to include chiropractic coverage." However, enactment of this law will harm access to quality healthcare.

Current physician reimbursement rates under Medicaid and QUEST have remained low. As a consequence of low reimbursement rates, a substantial number of Hawai'i physicians have had to stop accepting Medicaid or QUEST. Other physicians have left the state.

Accordingly, any additional money that is available for these two programs should be spent on increasing physician reimbursement rates.

It would be a bad precedent if this bill became law. If more people use chiropractic services than were anticipated, then even more money will have to be appropriated to cover these services. In addition, in tough financial times, other services may have to be cut to ensure that these services remain fully funded.

Linda Rasmussen, MD
President, Hawaii Medical Association

HB 718

KEWALO BILL BYPASSES MASTER PLAN PROCESS

The Legislature is at it again. Tinkering around the edges of issues and making things worse rather than better.

HB 718 mandates setting aside Kewalo Basin facilities for exclusive use by the Kewalo Keiki Fishing Conservancy — a wonderful organization deserving of support — but as part of a master-planning process now ongoing by a very large citizen-advisory group organized by the Hawai'i Community Development Authority at the Legislature's behest.

For them to usurp the citizen planning process by carving out one of the many worthy constituencies of Kaka'ako user groups for special attention and funding is just plain bad, ill advised and almost spiteful public policy.

I hope HB 718 is on the governor's veto list and I hope the Kewalo Keiki Fishing Conservancy will honor the planning process by getting involved in the citizens advisory group and their ongoing deliberations.

Peter Apo
'Aiea

HB 1830

SAFE HAVEN BILL WILL PROTECT THE VULNERABLE

I am writing in support of an effort in the Legislature to override the governor's threatened veto of HB 1830, the baby safe haven bill. This bill and its voiceless constituents are most worthy of the effort.

The comments in support of this bill by Reps. John Mizuno and Gene Ward upon final reading in the House were some of the most moving I've heard. They expressed the idea that "if this bill saves the life of just one child, it will have been worth the effort."

The arguments — "This doesn't happen here," or "We don't want to encourage abandonment," or "We won't have medical histories" — appear rational on the surface, but pale in comparison against the life of even one newborn child at risk.

One of the major roles and responsibilities of government is the protection of its citizenry. It can be said that the measure of a civil society is the manner in which it deals with its most vulnerable members. Let's protect these new members of our community from events and circumstances far beyond their control.

Jim Dorsey
Kailua

URGES GOVERNOR NOT TO VETO SAFE HAVEN BILL

I urge the governor not to veto the safe haven bill, which is designed to save the lives of helpless newborns who might otherwise be left in unsafe situations leading to death or injury.

Medical and genealogical concerns are valid, but they are trumped by the safety and life of a baby. Forty-seven states have "safe haven" laws, and more than 1,000 babies have been saved, according to national "safe haven" experts.

I personally held an abandoned baby in my arms in 1988 when I was working at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center emergency room. The baby would have died had someone not heard him crying in a van parked near a gas station. The mother had left the baby to die.

HB 1830 would prevent abandonment. Please protect our innocent precious babies.

Beverly Larranaga
Honolulu

HOUSE BILLS

SENATE BILLS

SB 1004

GOVERNOR SHOULD SIGN PRESCRIPTION DRUG BILL

Gov. Linda Lingle should sign SB 1004, allowing appropriately trained psychologists to prescribe a limited formulary in underserved areas. Even opponents of this bill agree that the lack of access to psychiatric care in rural Hawai'i is a crisis.

Several letters representing "the medical community" have expressed concerns about safety. SB 1004 does require that psychologists receive the medical education and training to prescribe safely. The bill's requirements are more stringent than the intensely studied Department of Defense program, which demonstrated the safety and efficacy of prescribing psychologists.

SB 1004 is supported by the Hawai'i Primary Care Association and was introduced in the House by the only medical doctor in the Legislature, Rep. Josh Green.

Members of the medical community who have been passionately involved in rural care in Hawai'i are largely in favor of this bill. They know that the risk of ongoing suffering caused by these problems going untreated is even greater in the rural and Native Hawaiian communities due to the long-term shortages of psychiatrists in these areas.

Please listen to the community and sign SB 1004 into law.

Kathleen Brown
'Aiea

PRESCRIPTION MEASURE SHOULD BECOME LAW

I must take exception to the letters that have appeared recently with false claims concerning SB 1004, the bill that would allow appropriately trained psychologists to prescribe a limited range of prescription medications.

This bill is a conservative, well-crafted piece of legislation that has more safeguards and requires more training than the current standards for any of the jurisdictions where psychologists are prescribing safely and effectively.

For example, military psychologists with this advanced training have prescribed for a decade now and have had an outstanding safety record.

Contrary to the misinformation, only psychologists who have completed a rigorous multi-year, post-doctoral training program in psychopharmacology would be eligible for the expanded privileges. Only a limited range of medications will be on their formulary. Only the psychologists with this advanced training who are employed or contracted at a community health center will have these privileges and only when they are working as part of a team with physicians.

SB 1004 is solely about meeting the particular needs of people with neglected health problems complicated by economic, educational and cultural barriers to care elsewhere.

Please contact Gov. Lingle in support of this measure.

Warren R. Loos
Honolulu

PRESCRIPTION BILL WOULD AID UNDERSERVED AREAS

The governor should allow SB 1004 to become law. Why maintain the status quo when there is a critical shortage of psychiatrists in underserved areas of our state?

In his letter to the editor, Dr. Gayle Beardsley makes several erroneous points regarding SB 1004. First, he claims the bill will allow psychologists to prescribe outside of a federally qualified health center. That is not true.

Beardsley also minimizes the bill requirements and safeguards by stating that only during a "one-year supervisory period are they compelled to serve in those health centers." Again, not true. In fact, a psychologist must be employed or contracted by a federally qualified health center while they complete the three years of supervised prescribing before being allowed to apply for a final prescription certificate.

Even when the final prescription certificate is given, prescribing psychologists must forever practice within the federally qualified health center and have an ongoing collaborative relationship with the physician who oversees the patient's general medical care.

The medical lobby uses its same old scare tactics to misinform politicians and the community at large at the expense of getting timely care to those in need.

Jill Oliveira
Honolulu

SB 1066

INVASIVE-SPECIES CARGO FEE SHOULD BECOME LAW

An article on June 28 regarding the bills Gov. Linda Lingle is likely to veto mentioned SB 1066, which would enable the Hawai'i Department of Agriculture to charge a $1 service fee per incoming sea container to raise dedicated funds for invasive species inspection and treatment.

For the past couple of decades, the agriculture department has not been able to conduct adequate inspection of incoming goods because the annual funds for inspection services have not kept up with the amount of incoming cargo.

This fee-for-service mechanism is the only way to ensure that the funds are commensurate with the amount of incoming cargo.

In the past few years that we have been trying to get a dedicated funding source for inspection and treatment services, we've received a horde of new invasive pests including the bee mite on O'ahu, the wiliwili gall wasp, ohia rust, a new macadamia nut scale on the Big Island, the Taura Syndrome Virus in a Kahuku shrimp farm, and more.

There are many more harmful pests that can reach our shores if we aren't vigilant. A public opinion survey in 2007 showed that the public is supportive of this fee for inspection services.

Please urge our elected officials to support this important measure.

Christy Martin
Public information officer, Statewide Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species

SB 1191

WALKER/CYCLIST URGES OK ON PEDESTRIAN BILL

As a walking commuter and cyclist, I'm writing to urge Gov. Linda Lingle to sign into law SB 1191.

As a born and bred islander who moved home last year after 10 years living and working internationally and on the West Coast, I am stunned and deeply saddened by the lack of progress in the area of pedestrian safety and traffic/automobile "management" on O'ahu.

Our island home should be a world model of safe, alternative methods of mobility. Instead, people of all ages must frequently take their lives in their hands when crossing streets and intersections.

In the last year I have nearly been run down three times while walking to work and in a crosswalk.

I ask you, Gov. Lingle, to sign SB 1191 into law, release the attached money and help put Hawai'i on a real pedestrian-friendly path to paradise.

Kathy Harper
Honolulu