STAND. COM. REP. NO.  73-14

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2014

RE:   H.B. No. 1748

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1748 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to develop a pool of certified medical interpreters in the State by appropriating funds to:

(1)  Provide financial assistance for training and certification in medical interpretation from a nationally-recognized and accredited certification program; and

(2)  Develop medical glossaries for the primary foreign languages spoken in the State.

The Office of Language Access and an individual testified in support of this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by changing its effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion.

     Should the House Committee on Finance deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests its consideration of the following appropriation amounts:

(1)  $100,000 for Fiscal Year 2014-2015 to provide financial assistance for training and certification in medical interpretation from a nationally-recognized and accredited certification program; and

(2)  $50,000 for Fiscal Year 2014-2015 to develop medical glossaries for the primary foreign languages spoken in the State.

Your Committee notes that the awarding of financial assistance to recipients for training and certification in medical interpretation in the bill is contingent on recipients providing an unspecified number of hours of uncompensated medical interpreter services to the State and state-funded agencies within two years of receiving certification from a nationally-recognized and accredited medical interpreter program.  Your Committee requests the Office of Language Access's input in assisting the House in its deliberations regarding the number of hours recipients must fulfill in uncompensated medical interpreter services.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1748, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1748, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair