STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1395

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 266

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 266, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

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

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the statewide language access resource center and a multilingual website pilot project.

 

     Specifically, this measure:

 

(1)  Requires the Office of Language Access to:

 

(A)  Implement a multilingual website pilot project to explore creating a website to improve access to information on government and government-funded services for persons with limited English proficiency; and to the extent feasible, create a multilingual website for use by the public; and

 

(B)  Administer a statewide language access resource center; and

 

(2)  Appropriates funds for the pilot project and the statewide language access resource center.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Human Resources Development; the Office of Language Access-Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; General Immigration Services, Catholic Charities Hawaii; Congress of Visayan Organizations; Hawaii Interpreter Action Network; National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators; and one individual.  One individual submitted written comments in opposition to this measure.  The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission submitted written comments on this measure.

 

     Your Committee finds that many people do not take advantage of government and government-funded services solely due to their limited proficiency in English.  This, in turn, prevents those people from contributing to the community and living up to their full potential.  Establishing a statewide language access resource center and a multilingual website will address the lack of a comprehensive and central system to identify qualified interpreters and language translators in the State, increase the number of qualified interpreters and translators, and help individuals with limited English proficiency to access government information in their own language.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

(1)  Providing that the listing of the qualifications and credentials of language interpreters and translators, on the roster maintained by the Office of Language Access, be based upon guidelines established by the Office in consultation with the Language Access Advisory Council;

 

(2)  Changing all appropriations in the measure to unspecified amounts; and

 

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

 

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


 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair