Chief Patron: Tran
HB 1049: Language Access Workgroup

Item 56 #1h

Language
Page 40, line 21, strike "$1,612,616" and insert "$1,662,616".
Page 40, line 21, strike "$1,816,772" and insert "$1,866,772".

Explanation

(This amendment provides funding in both years for House Bill 1049, which establishes the Interagency Language Access Workgroup in the Office of the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Office of the Governor. The workgroup is to maximize state policies, resources, technical assistance, and procurement practices to further language access and equity in the Commonwealth and its state agencies. The bill also requires each state agency to designate a language access coordinator who will be responsible for the agency's annual language access report and directs the Secretary of Administration to establish criteria for state agencies to procure language interpretation and translation services and to establish a policy for compensating multilingual state employees who are required as part of their job to provide interpretation, translation, or other bilingual skills at least once a month. A companion amendment under Item 485 proposes use of funds from the Central Accounts Payments for Special or Unanticipated Expenditures or the Miscellaneous Contingency Reserve to support any resulting costs from this bill. This is a placeholder amendment until a final fiscal impact statement is produced.)