STAND. COM. REP. NO. 315

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 962

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 962 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INTERPRETER REFERRAL SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for an interpreter referral service for public and private entities serving individuals who are not participants of the Department of Human Services' vocational rehabilitation program.  

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Disability and Communication Access Board, Isle Interpret, and five individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services.

     Your Committee finds that the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires public and private entities to provide individuals with disabilities a means of effective communication, such as auxiliary aids and services, that is as effective as communication with individuals without disabilities.  Your Committee further finds that the Department of Human Services has provided interpreter referral services for the community for many years, including individuals who are not vocational rehabilitation program participants, and supplemental funding is necessary to continue providing services for individuals who are not participants of the Department's vocational rehabilitation program so that the Department can maximize matching federal funds.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 962 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair