STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2870

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2395

       S.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2395, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to improve the administration of the State's language access law and enhance various county representation on the Language Access Advisory Council.

     Specifically, the measure clarifies and adds definitions relating to language access to the language access law, adds a representative from each county to the Language Access Advisory Council, and designates the Executive Director of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission or authorized representative as an ex-officio member of the Language Access Advisory Council.

     Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Judiciary, Office of Language Access, Congress of Visayan Organizations, and the Hawaii Interpreter Action Network.

     Your Committee finds that this measure will streamline and strengthen Hawaii's language access law and will allow 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.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting in the provisions that authorize the appointment of county resident representatives to the Language Access Advisory Council, the requirement that the person have an interest in language access; and

     (2)  Adding a representative from the Disability and Communication Access Board to the Language Access Advisory Council as an ex-officio member.

     Your Committee also amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purpose of clarity.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2395, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2395, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair