STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1350-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   S.B. No. 2395

      S.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2395, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LANGUAGE ACCESS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to make government more easily accessible to individuals with limited English proficiency by:

     (1)  Clarifying and expanding definitions in Hawaii's language access law;

     (2)  Adding the definitions of "purchase-of-service contract" and "written language services" to Hawaii's language access law;

     (3)  Expanding the membership of the Language Access Advisory Council (LAAC) to include a member from each county in the state who has an interest in language access as well as a representative of the Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB) as an ex-officio member; and

     (4)  Clarifying that the Executive Director of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission or an authorized representative shall serve as an ex-officio member of LAAC.

     The Office of Language Access, Congress of Visayan Organizations, DCAB, and a concerned individual testified in support of this bill.  The Hawaii Interpreter Action Network supported this bill with amendments.  The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission provided comments.

     Persons who do not speak English as a primary language are a significant portion of Hawaii's population.  However, many individuals with limited English proficiency sometimes have difficulty obtaining services from state agencies because of their limited ability in the English language.  As a result of this need, the Legislature passed Act 290, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, which began to address the language access needs of limited English proficient persons.

     Your Committee finds that we must continue to ensure that all residents of Hawaii, including non-English speakers and limited-English speakers, enjoy full access to and participate in the life of our community and that this measure continues to work toward that goal.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2395, S.D. 2, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________

ALEX M. SONSON, Chair