STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3555

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2226

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 2226, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF LANGUAGE ACCESS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for three full-time equivalent permanent positions within the Office of Language Access.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Language Access, Office of Language Access Advisory Council, American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i, Catholic Charities of Hawai‘i, Faith Action for Community Equity, Hawaii Filipino Lawyers Association, Hawai‘i Friends of Civil Rights, and four individuals.

     Your Committees find that the Office of Language Access is charged with providing oversight, central coordination, and technical assistance to state and state-funded agencies in their implementation of language access compliance, which is a civil right under federal and state law.  However, a reduction in staff has made it difficult for the Office of Language Access to provide adequate technical assistance and compliance monitoring that meet agencies' needs.  Implementation of this measure will ensure that the Office of Language Access is able to continue to assist state and state-funded agencies in understanding and meeting certain civil rights obligations to provide language access, and avoid costly penalties and expenses or the loss of federal funding.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting blank numbers of full-time equivalent permanent positions within the Office of Language Access;

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2226, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2226, H.D. 2, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means,

________________________________ JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair

________________________________ GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair