Full Text of SB3762 103rd General Assembly
SB3762sam001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Karina Villa Filed: 4/4/2024 | | 10300SB3762sam001 | | LRB103 38804 JRC 71627 a |
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3762
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3762 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following: | 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Language Equity and Access Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Legislative purpose. The purpose of this Act is | 7 | | to ensure that all residents of the State have equal access to | 8 | | State services and, in particular, to remove language as a | 9 | | barrier for persons who have limited English proficiency and | 10 | | who may, therefore, be excluded from equitable access to State | 11 | | information, programs, services, and activities. It is the | 12 | | intent of the General Assembly that the State adopt a language | 13 | | equity and access policy that incorporates federal guidance | 14 | | for ensuring meaningful access for persons with limited | 15 | | English proficiency as provided by the Illinois Human Rights | 16 | | Act, the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003, Title VI of the |
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| 1 | | Civil Rights Act of 1964, U.S. Presidential Executive Order | 2 | | No. 13166 (Improving Access to Services for Persons with | 3 | | Limited English Proficiency), U.S. Presidential Executive | 4 | | Order 13985 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for | 5 | | Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government), U.S. | 6 | | Presidential Executive Order 14091 (Further Advancing Racial | 7 | | Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the | 8 | | Federal Government), other non-discrimination provisions in | 9 | | federal or State statutes, and any succeeding provisions of | 10 | | federal or State law, regulation, or guidance. | 11 | | Section 10. Definitions. In this Act: | 12 | | "Interpretation" means listening to a communication in one | 13 | | language and orally converting it to another language in a | 14 | | manner that preserves the intent and meaning of the original | 15 | | message. | 16 | | "Language assistance services" means oral and written | 17 | | language services needed to assist LEP individuals to | 18 | | communicate effectively with staff, and to provide LEP | 19 | | individuals with meaningful access to, and equal opportunity | 20 | | to participate fully in, the services, activities, or other | 21 | | programs administered by the State. | 22 | | "Limited English proficient (LEP) person" means an | 23 | | individual who does not speak English as his or her primary | 24 | | language and who has a limited ability to read, speak, write, | 25 | | or understand English. |
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| 1 | | "Meaningful access" means language assistance that results | 2 | | in accurate, timely, and effective communication at no cost to | 3 | | limited English proficient persons. For LEP persons, | 4 | | meaningful access denotes access that is not unreasonably | 5 | | restricted, delayed, or inferior as compared to access to | 6 | | programs or activities provided to English proficient | 7 | | individuals. | 8 | | "State agency" means an executive agency, department, | 9 | | board, commission, or authority directly responsible to the | 10 | | Governor. | 11 | | "Translation" means the conversion of text from one | 12 | | language to another in a written form to convey the intent and | 13 | | essential meaning of the original text. | 14 | | "Vital documents" means paper or electronic written | 15 | | material that contains information that affects a person's | 16 | | access to, retention of, termination of, or exclusion from | 17 | | program services or benefits or is required by law. | 18 | | Section 15. Statewide Language Equity and Access. | 19 | | (a) This Act is created to ensure meaningful access to | 20 | | State programs and resources for limited proficient (LEP) | 21 | | persons. This Act requires the Governor's Office of New | 22 | | Americans, with the support of the Department of Human | 23 | | Services and any other relevant agencies to, at a minimum: | 24 | | (1) prepare, based on available U.S. Census data, a | 25 | | Language Needs Assessment Report that identifies the |
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| 1 | | languages spoken throughout the State as described in | 2 | | Section 25 of this Act; | 3 | | (2) assist State agencies in the creation of language | 4 | | access plans as detailed in Section 30 of this Act; | 5 | | (3) develop standards and a compliance framework to | 6 | | assess progress by State agencies, including both key | 7 | | performance indicators and mechanisms to track them; | 8 | | (4) provide annual reporting on State agency | 9 | | compliance and progress to the Governor and the General | 10 | | Assembly by December 31 of every year starting in 2026; | 11 | | (5) establish requirements for the availability of | 12 | | interpretation and translation services; | 13 | | (6) set standards for adequate staffing of bilingual | 14 | | employees at State agencies, including a methodology for | 15 | | monitoring implementation and updating the State Services | 16 | | Assurance Act and the Bilingual Employment Plan, based on | 17 | | the Language Needs Assessment Report; | 18 | | (7) incorporate language equity compliance provisions | 19 | | in State contracts with vendors, grantees and purchase of | 20 | | care entities; and | 21 | | (8) ensure that whenever an emergency, weather, | 22 | | health, or other crisis situation has been declared, the | 23 | | State's limited English person population is adequately | 24 | | notified of the emergency, information, any actions | 25 | | required, and has equitable access to emergency resources. | 26 | | (b) The Governor's Office of New Americans, with the |
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| 1 | | support of the Department of Human Services and any other | 2 | | relevant agencies, shall lead statewide efforts in the | 3 | | implementation of the State's language equity and access | 4 | | policy for LEP persons and to ensure meaningful access to | 5 | | information, services, programs, and activities offered by | 6 | | State agencies for LEP persons. The role of the Governor's | 7 | | Office of New Americans in this work is to advance and monitor | 8 | | implementation of and compliance with this Act by: | 9 | | (1) providing oversight, central coordination, and | 10 | | technical assistance to State agencies in the | 11 | | implementation of language access requirements under this | 12 | | Act or under any other law, rule, or guidance related to | 13 | | language access; | 14 | | (2) reviewing and monitoring each State agency's | 15 | | language access plan for compliance with this Act; | 16 | | (3) consulting with Language Access Coordinators and | 17 | | State agency directors or their equivalent; | 18 | | (4) creating, distributing, and making available to | 19 | | State agencies multilingual signage in the more frequently | 20 | | encountered languages in the State and other languages as | 21 | | needed, informing individuals of the individual's right to | 22 | | free interpretation services and how to request language | 23 | | services; | 24 | | (5) ensuring that each State agency develops an | 25 | | internal complaint and review process specific to the | 26 | | provision of language assistance services and supporting |
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| 1 | | agencies in addressing complaints in a timely manner; | 2 | | (6) developing recommendations for the use of | 3 | | interpreters and translators, including standards for | 4 | | certification and qualifications; | 5 | | (7) assisting State agencies in developing | 6 | | multilingual websites with information about relevant | 7 | | policies, standards, plans, and complaint processes; | 8 | | (8) assisting State agencies in preparing public | 9 | | notices of the availability of translation or | 10 | | interpretation services upon request; | 11 | | (9) preparing an annual compliance report to be | 12 | | submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly; and | 13 | | (10) addressing other issues as necessary to ensure | 14 | | equity and meaningful participation for persons with | 15 | | limited English proficiency. | 16 | | Section 20. Statewide Language Needs Assessment. The | 17 | | Governor's Office of New Americans, with the support of the | 18 | | Department of Human Services and any other relevant State | 19 | | agencies, shall compile available United States Census data on | 20 | | languages used across the State, including the identification | 21 | | of geographic patterns and trend data, to inform the Language | 22 | | Needs Assessment Report. The report shall be updated at least | 23 | | every 10 years in conjunction with the decennial federal | 24 | | Census but may be updated more frequently using other Census | 25 | | data reports. |
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| 1 | | The Language Needs Assessment report shall be made | 2 | | available to State agencies for the development of their | 3 | | language access plans and overall improvement in service | 4 | | provision to LEP persons. | 5 | | Section 25. Language access plans. | 6 | | (a) Each State agency shall take reasonable steps to | 7 | | ensure meaningful access to services, programs, and activities | 8 | | by LEP persons. Therefore, each State agency shall prepare and | 9 | | submit a language access plan to the Governor's Office of New | 10 | | Americans. Each language access plan should describe the | 11 | | population of LEP persons the agency serves, the policy and | 12 | | programmatic actions the agency will implement to ensure | 13 | | meaningful access, and the metrics the agency will use to | 14 | | measure compliance with this Act. | 15 | | (b) Each State agency shall designate a Language Access | 16 | | Coordinator who is responsible for overseeing the development | 17 | | and implementation of the agency's language access plan. | 18 | | (c) The adequacy of a State agency's language access plan | 19 | | shall be determined by the totality of the circumstances, | 20 | | including an individualized assessment that balances the | 21 | | following factors: | 22 | | (1) the number or proportion of LEP persons who are | 23 | | served or encountered in the eligible service population | 24 | | of the State agency; | 25 | | (2) the frequency with which LEP persons come in |
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| 1 | | contact with the services, programs, or activities | 2 | | provided by the State agency; | 3 | | (3) the nature and importance of the services, | 4 | | programs, or activities provided by the State agency; and | 5 | | (4) the resources available to the State agency and | 6 | | the costs. | 7 | | (d) Each State agency shall describe in its plans how it | 8 | | will provide all of the following: | 9 | | (1) competent, timely translation and interpretation | 10 | | services to LEP persons who are seeking access to | 11 | | information, services, programs, or activities provided by | 12 | | the State agency; and | 13 | | (2) vital document translation services for LEP | 14 | | persons who are seeking access to information, services, | 15 | | programs, or activities provided by the State agency, as | 16 | | follows: | 17 | | (A) if there are more than 1,000 LEP persons in the | 18 | | population of persons served by the State agency or if | 19 | | LEP persons comprise more than 5% of the population of | 20 | | persons served by the State agency; or | 21 | | (B) if there are fewer than 50 persons served by | 22 | | the State agency that reach the 5% threshold in | 23 | | subparagraph (A), the State agency shall provide | 24 | | written notice in the primary language to the LEP | 25 | | persons of the right to receive competent oral | 26 | | interpretation of those written materials free of |
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| 1 | | cost. | 2 | | (3) Following the first submitted plan, language | 3 | | access plans shall include an assessment of performance | 4 | | metrics for the previous State fiscal year. | 5 | | (e) The Governor's Office of New Americans, with the | 6 | | support of the Department of Human Services and any other | 7 | | relevant State agencies, shall develop a template and | 8 | | mechanism for collecting and analyzing State agency language | 9 | | access plans. | 10 | | (f) Following completion of the assessment, the Governor's | 11 | | Office of New Americans, with the support of the Department of | 12 | | Human Services and any other relevant State agencies, shall | 13 | | provide guidance and feedback to each State agency, including | 14 | | any recommendations to ensure compliance with this Act. | 15 | | (g) Language access plans shall be made publicly | 16 | | accessible by each State agency. | 17 | | Section 30. Compliance and accountability. | 18 | | (a) No later than July 1, 2025, the Governor's Office of | 19 | | New Americans shall prepare and submit to the General Assembly | 20 | | a Language Equity and Access Status Report detailing the | 21 | | progress made by State agencies in the implementation of this | 22 | | Act, including the development of Language Access Plans. | 23 | | (b) By December 31, 2026, and every December 31 | 24 | | thereafter, the Governor's Office of New Americans shall | 25 | | submit a Language Equity and Access Compliance Report to the |
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| 1 | | General Assembly. The Compliance Report shall be based on | 2 | | information collected during the preceding fiscal year and | 3 | | shall, at a minimum, include: | 4 | | (1) key performance metrics for the previous year; | 5 | | (2) the following information for each State agency: | 6 | | (A) a high-level summary of the language access | 7 | | plan, including language access services offered; | 8 | | (B) as applicable, the number and percentage of | 9 | | LEP persons who use the services of the State agency, | 10 | | listed by language other than English; | 11 | | (C) aggregate data on the number of bilingual | 12 | | employees, by title, who are in roles designated as | 13 | | requiring a person employed in that position to speak | 14 | | or write in a language other than English, including | 15 | | the languages that the persons are required to speak | 16 | | in that role, and whether the employees are certified | 17 | | as bilingual in those languages; | 18 | | (D) the name and contact information of the | 19 | | Language Access Coordinator for each State agency; | 20 | | (E) an ongoing employee development and training | 21 | | strategy to maintain well-trained bilingual employees | 22 | | and general staff; | 23 | | (F) data on the use of any interpretation or | 24 | | translation vendor services such as number and type of | 25 | | language services requested, languages requested, and | 26 | | any other relevant data; and |
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| 1 | | (G) aggregate data on the number of complaints | 2 | | filed and the status or resolution of the complaints. | 3 | | (c) The Governor's Office of New Americans shall attempt | 4 | | to resolve a language access complaint received by a State | 5 | | agency if the agency does not resolve the complaint in a timely | 6 | | manner or the resolution is inadequate. Upon referral of a | 7 | | complaint, the Governor's Office of New Americans may engage | 8 | | in informal processes, including mediation, conference, and | 9 | | conciliation, to resolve the complaint. | 10 | | Section 35. Implementation. The Governor's Office of New | 11 | | Americans may work in collaboration with the Department of | 12 | | Human Services and any other relevant State agency to | 13 | | implement this Act. | 14 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 15 | | becoming law.". |
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