STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2292

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2395

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Public Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2395 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to clarify definitions related to language access, require covered entities to file a language access plan with the Office of Language Access and designate a language access coordinator, and expand the Language Access Advisory Council to include members from each of the counties and from eleven to fifteen members.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Office of Language Access; Project Director, Office on Equality and Access to the Courts, The Judiciary, State of Hawaii; and the Congress of Visayan Organizations.  Comments were submitted by the Commissioners of the Hawai‘i Civil Rights Commission; and Na Loio, Immigrant Rights and Public Interest Legal Center.

     Your Committee finds that this measure will strengthen Hawaii's language access law and will enable the Office of Language Access to be more effective in performing its functions, ensuring compliance with the law by providing meaningful access to essential government services to limited English proficient individuals.

     The Office of Language Access has suggested to your Committee that:

     (1)  The definition for "purchase-of-service contract" include situations where the contract is between the State and an individual;

     (2)  The term "state agency", rather than just "state", is used throughout the existing language access law; and

     (3)  The Office of Language Access has been successfully working with covered entities to voluntarily submit copies of their language plans.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Stipulating that a "purchase-of-service contract" is between the State and any person;

     (2)  Changing the definition of "state" to make it identical to "state agency"; and

     (3)  Omitting the requirement that each covered agency submit a language access plan to the Executive Director of the Office of Language Access.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services and Public Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2395, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2395, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services and Public Housing,

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair