GOVERNOR LINGLE SIGNS LANGUAGE ACCESS BILL
For Immediate Release: July 10, 2006
HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today signed into law a key bill designed to improve state and state-funded services to immigrants with limited English proficiency. The signing ceremony was held at the Susannah Wesley Community Center in Kalihi, which provides social services to those in need, including immigrants who speak little or no English.
HB2778 HD2 SD2 CD1 (Act 290) requires the state, as well as state-funded programs, to develop plans to provide interpretation services and translated documents to immigrants and residents who have limited ability to read or speak English. The bill also establishes the Office of Language Access within the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR).
“This new law represents the state’s commitment to ensuring that no individual living in the State of Hawai`i is denied his or her right to critical services because they might not be able to speak or read English,” said Governor Linda Lingle. “Those who use state services are often the most vulnerable and require the most assistance in order to survive. Language should not be a barrier to basic needs such as housing, food, job training or medical coverage.”
According to the 2000 U.S. Census survey, 26.6 percent of Hawai`i’s population speaks a language other than English. Nationally, only 17.9 percent of the population speaks a language other than English. Additionally, the 2000 Census reports that the majority of immigrants to Hawai`i come from Asia and the Pacific Islands. Of those whose primary language at home is an Asian or Pacific Island language, 20.2 percent do not speak English well or at all.
“Immigrants from diverse cultures have made significant contributions to Hawai`i’s economic success and have shaped our unique island lifestyle over the last several decades,” the Governor said. “We have a responsibility to ensure that those who continue to come here from different lands seeking a new and better life for themselves and their families are afforded every opportunity to be successful.”
Hawai`i has long been an example to the rest of the world as a “melting pot”, rich in ethnic and cultural diversity. Yet, the ability to access and communicate with state government, non-profit service providers, employment agencies and emergency healthcare personnel in Hawai`i depends largely on a person’s ability to speak English.
This new law addresses this challenge by:
- Requiring the State of Hawai`i and non-profit agencies that render services on behalf of the state to ensure that individuals with limited English proficiency have meaningful access to services.
- Specifies that timely translation services be provided to individuals who seek access to services, programs, or activities.
- Requires that vital documents be identified by the state and translated.
- Establishing within DLIR, the Office of Language Access and creating a language access director position.
- Establishing the Language Access Advisory Council to advise the language access director on statewide implementation of the requirements of HB2778.
- Requiring each state agency and covered entity to establish a plan for language access.
- Requiring that each state agency’s plan for language access be established in consultation with the Office of Language Access.
- Requiring state agencies that receive federal financial assistance to file an initial language access plan with the Office of Language Access no later than July 1, 2007.
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For more information, contact:
Lenny Klompus
Senior Advisor – Communications
Phone: (808) 586-7708
Russell Pang
Chief of Media Relations
Phone: (808) 586-0043
Nelson Befitel
Director, DLIR
Phone: (808) 586-8844
James Hardway
Special Asst. to the Director, DLIR
Phone: (808) 586-8845
