CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 123

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2013

RE:    H.B. No. 266

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

       C.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Sir and Madam:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 266, H.D. 1, S.D. 2, entitled:

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

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

     The purpose of this measure is to enhance language access in Hawaii for those individuals whose primary language is not English.  Specifically, this bill:

     (1)  Requires the Office of Language Access, in collaboration with other state agencies, to implement a Multilingual Website Pilot Project that will improve language access to information provided online for limited English proficient persons seeking information about government and government-funded services in the State of Hawaii;

     (2)  Requires the Executive Director of the Office of Language Access to administer a Statewide Language Access Resource Center that will address the interpretation and translation needs of the State;

     (3)  Authorizes the Executive Director of the Office of Language Access to hire personnel necessary to staff the Statewide Language Access Resource Center and to administer the multilingual website;

     (4)  Establishes minimum staffing requirements for staffing of the Statewide Language Access Resource Center and administration of the multilingual website, and requiring that bilingual personnel be used to the extent possible;

     (5)  Requires the Executive Director of the Office of Language Access to consult with the Office of Information Management and Technology in developing the multilingual website; and

     (6)  Appropriates unspecified amounts for the Statewide Language Access Resource Center and the Multilingual Website Pilot Project.

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Appropriating $170,000 for fiscal year 2013-2014 and $170,000 for fiscal year 2014-2015 for the Statewide Language Access Resource Center;

     (2)  Appropriating $80,000 for fiscal year 2013-2014 and $80,000 for fiscal year 2014-2015 for the Multilingual Website Pilot Project;

     (3)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2013; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 266, H.D. 1, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 266, H.D. 1, S.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair	____________________________ DELLA AU BELATTI, Co-Chair
____________________________ MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Co-Chair	____________________________ DEE MORIKAWA, Co-Chair