SB1070 expands Hawaii’s healthcare preceptor income tax credit program. The bill broadens who can qualify as a preceptor and which students or trainees can be supervised for credit purposes by adding physician assistants, social workers, and licensed dieticians to the statute, and by extending eligibility to accredited residency and fellowship programs. It also removes the existing “primary care” limitation from the preceptor definition and clarifies that a preceptor may be in a specialty that supports the training of an eligible student for clinical practice.
The bill also revises the definition of a “volunteer-based supervised clinical training rotation” to specify that the rotation must total at least 80 hours of supervisory time annually and to clarify how compensation interacts with the tax credit, including allowing compensation for standard clinical services while requiring that the training component itself remain uncompensated in the ways described by the bill. In addition, it updates the preceptor credit assurance committee’s membership and duties, adding the Director of Health or designee and representatives from residency programs with eligible students, while keeping the committee within the Department of Health.
Impact
SB1070 amends Hawaii Revised Statutes sections 235-110.25 and 321-2.7, expanding the state income tax credit framework for healthcare preceptors and updating the administrative committee that certifies credits. The bill affects physicians, osteopathic physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, dieticians, social workers, academic programs, residency programs, and the Department of Health. The tax credit changes apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, and the act takes effect July 1, 2025.
Sentiment
The overall sentiment reflected in the bill text and voting history is supportive. The legislature’s findings describe the existing preceptor tax credit as successful, citing a significant increase in active preceptors and recommending expansion to improve access and participation. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed the measure with amendments by a 4-0 vote, indicating unanimous support among those voting at that stage.
Contention
The main policy debate appears to be about how broad the preceptor tax credit should be and how to preserve program integrity while expanding access. The bill removes the primary care restriction, which suggests a shift toward specialty and broader workforce training, and it adds new professions such as physician assistants, social workers, and dieticians. Another point of attention is the compensation rule for supervised clinical training: the bill allows preceptors to be paid for ordinary clinical services but requires the training portion to remain uncompensated from certain funding sources. The committee structure and accreditation standards are also expanded, which may raise implementation questions, but no explicit opposition is reflected in the available transcript or vote record.