---
type: "Bill"
title: "RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS."
description: "Amends the practicum experience requirements for qualification for licensure as a mental health counselor. (SB2647 HD3)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/hi"
legislature: "Hawaii Legislature"
session: "2018 Regular Session"
identifier: "SB 2647"
citation: "Hawaii SB 2647 (2018 Regular Session)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Mental Health Counselors", "Licensure", "Qualifications", "Practicum Experience"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["BAKER", "GALUTERIA", "Gabbard", "INOUYE", "Ihara", "Keith-Agaran", "Kidani", "L. Thielen", "Nishihara", "TOKUDA"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 38
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2018-01-19"
last_action: "2018-07-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a542e7c8-6498-40a6-b04f-a31c08e21a00"
source_url: "http://capitol.hawaii.gov/Archives/measure_indiv_Archives8-12.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2647&year=2018"
source_hash: "7b971493828de0861df95829e86bf1f62cd7841ee66e05e19ff86f243ad90c8e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-hi"]
---

# Hawaii SB 2647 (2018 Regular Session) — RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS.

Amends the practicum experience requirements for qualification for licensure as a mental health counselor. (SB2647 HD3)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **SB2647** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2018/bills/SB2647_.HTM)
2. **SB2647_HD1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2018/bills/SB2647_HD1_.HTM)
3. **SB2647_HD2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2018/bills/SB2647_HD2_.HTM)

## Votes

- The committees on HHS recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **5–0** (pass) · lower
- The committees on IAC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- The committee(s) on CPH recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- The committees on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. — **10–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- BAKER — primary (person)
- GALUTERIA — primary (person)
- Gabbard — primary (person)
- INOUYE — primary (person)
- Ihara — primary (person)
- Keith-Agaran — primary (person)
- Kidani — primary (person)
- L. Thielen — primary (person)
- Nishihara — primary (person)
- TOKUDA — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-01-19** Introduced. `introduction`
- **2018-01-22** Passed First Reading. `reading-1`
- **2018-01-24** Referred to CPH. `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-09** The committee(s) on CPH has scheduled a public hearing on 02-14-18 9:00AM in conference room 229.
- **2018-02-14** The committee(s) on CPH recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in CPH were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Baker, Tokuda, S. Chang, Nishihara, Ruderman; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Espero, Ihara. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-03-01** Reported from CPH (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2537) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
- **2018-03-01** Report adopted; Passed Second Reading.
- **2018-03-01** One Day Notice 03-02-18.
- **2018-03-02** Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Green). Transmitted to House. `passage`
- **2018-03-02** Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 46). `introduction`
- **2018-03-06** Pass First Reading `reading-1`
- **2018-03-08** Referred to HHS, IAC, CPC, referral sheet 35 `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-09** Bill scheduled to be heard by HHS on Tuesday, 03-13-18 8:30AM in House conference room 329.
- **2018-03-13** The committees on HHS recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Mizuno, Kobayashi, Belatti, Learmont, Tupola; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-03-16** Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1160-18) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to IAC.
- **2018-03-16** Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on IAC with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) DeCoite, Fukumoto, Har, Holt, Nakashima, Souki, Tokioka excused (7). `reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2018-03-16** Bill scheduled to be heard by IAC on Wednesday, 03-21-18 9:00AM in House conference room 429.
- **2018-03-21** The committees on IAC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Ohno, Choy, Cachola, Onishi, Tokioka, Woodson; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 4 Excused: Representative(s) Fukumoto, Ito, LoPresti, Ward. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-03-23** Reported from IAC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1433-18) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to CPC.
- **2018-03-23** Report adopted. referred to the committee(s) on CPC as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) C. Lee, Lowen, McDermott, Souki, Tokioka excused (5).
- **2018-03-23** Bill scheduled to be heard by CPC on Wednesday, 03-28-18 2:00PM in House conference room 329.
- **2018-03-28** The committees on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Takumi, Ichiyama, Aquino, Ito, Johanson, LoPresti, Mizuno, Say, Yamane, McDermott; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Tokioka. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-04-03** Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1758-18) as amended in HD 3, recommending passage on Third Reading.
- **2018-04-03** Forty-eight (48) hours notice Thursday, 04-05-18.
- **2018-04-05** Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 3 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Choy, Holt, C. Lee, LoPresti, Nakashima, Quinlan excused (6). Transmitted to Senate. `passage`
- **2018-04-06** Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 460). `introduction`
- **2018-04-06** Senate disagrees with House amendments.
- **2018-04-06** Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 574).
- **2018-04-16** House Conferees Appointed: Mizuno, Ohno, Takumi Co-Chairs; Tokioka, Tupola.
- **2018-04-16** Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 610).
- **2018-04-24** Reconsideration of action taken on 04-06-18 in disagreeing to the House amendments.
- **2018-04-24** Senate agrees with House amendments. Placed on the calendar for Final Reading on 04-25-18.
- **2018-04-24** One Day Notice 04-25-18.
- **2018-04-25** Passed Final Reading. Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 1 Excused: Senator(s) Harimoto.
- **2018-04-25** Received notice of reconsideration, Senate agreement, and Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 839).
- **2018-04-26** Enrolled to Governor. `executive-receipt`
- **2018-07-11** Act 185, on 07/10/2018 (Gov. Msg. No. 1294). `executive-signature`
- **2018-07-11** Act 185, 07/10/2018 (Gov. Msg. No. 1294). `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a542e7c8-6498-40a6-b04f-a31c08e21a00`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Hawaii legislature records).