BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1376
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          Date of Hearing:  April 16, 2013

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
                                Bob Wieckowski, Chair
                AB 1376 (Hernandez) - As Introduced: February 22, 2013

                              As Proposed to be Amended
                                           
          SUBJECT  :  ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES: LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE 

           KEY ISSUE  :  SHOULD STATE STATUTES REGARDING APPOINTMENT OF  
          INTERPRETERS IN CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS BE UPDATED  
          AND CLARIFIED FOLLOWING LAST YEAR'S EXECUTIVE BRANCH  
          REORGANIZATION OF HUMAN RESOURCES FUNCTIONS?

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.

                                      SYNOPSIS
          
          This noncontroversial measure follows up on the Governor's  
          reorganization of executive branch personnel functions last year  
          by formally eliminating, transferring and clarifying certain  
          obligations regarding interpreters in administrative  
          proceedings, and specifying how agencies are to make  
          appointments of interpreters when they are needed.  The bill has  
          no opposition. 

           SUMMARY  :  Eliminates, transfers and clarifies certain  
          obligations regarding interpreters in administrative  
          proceedings.  Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Eliminates the State Personnel Board's obligation to establish  
            and administer updated lists of certified administrative  
            hearing and medical examination interpreters, and provides  
            that the existing lists as of December 31, 2013 shall be  
            preserved and published for five years.

          2)Eliminates specified fees for certification and renewal of  
            certification by interpreters.

          3)Transfers functions of the State Personnel Board (SPB) to the  
            California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) consistently  
            with an executive branch reorganization last year.










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          4)Deletes CalHR as the agency to determine which languages to  
            certify for interpreters, and transfers this function to the  
            Division of Workers Compensation.


          5)Provides that interpreters required for administrative  
            hearings or medical examinations be qualified; specifies that  
            agencies may select a certified interpreter from any of the  
            established lists; clarifies that these certified interpreters  
            are presumptively qualified; and clarifies the process for  
            provisionally qualifying an interpreter if a certified  
            interpreter is not appointed.

           EXISTING LAW  :  

           1)Requires state agencies authorized by law to conduct  
            administrative hearings to provide a party or witness that  
            does not proficiently speak or understand English and requests  
            language assistance an interpreter for hearings and medical  
            examinations.  (Government Code sections 110818 and 11435.20.)

          2)Requires state agencies to make all state programs,  
            activities, services and benefits equally accessible to people  
            who lack sufficient English proficiency.  (Government Code  
            section 11135; 42 U.S.C. section 2000d.)

          3)Requires SPB to establish, maintain, administer and publish  
            annually an updated list of certified administrative hearing  
            and medical examination interpreters.  (Government Code  
            sections 11435.30 and 11435.35.)

          4)Provides that certified court interpreters are deemed  
            certified for the use in administrative hearings and medical  
            examinations. (Government Code sections 11435.30(b) and  
            11435.35(b).)

          5)Provides that the Administrative Director of the Division of  
            Workers' Compensation may establish, maintain, administer, and  
            publish a list of certified hearing interpreters and certified  
            medical examination interpreters.  (Government Code sections  
            11435.30(c) and 11435.35(c).)

          6)Provides that an interpreter used in a hearing or a medical  
            examination shall be a SPB certified interpreter.  However, if  
            a SPB certified interpreter cannot be present, a hearing  








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            agency or physician may provisionally qualify and use another  
            interpreter.  (Government Code section 11435.55.)

           COMMENTS  :  The author explains the reason for the bill as  
          follows:
           
               Prior to the consolidation of the SPB and the Department of  
               Personnel Administration into the new California Department  
               of Human Resources (CalHR), SPB was charged with providing  
               testing for administrative hearing and medical examination  
               interpreters as well as maintaining and publishing a list  
               of interpreters to be utilized by the departments when  
               needed.  SPB suspended testing of interpreters in 2006, and  
               has not certified new additions to its list since then.  
               However, SPB has continued to charge an annual renewal fee  
               to previously certified interpreters of $100 per year.  No  
               tests have been administered since 2006, and the list of  
               interpreters remains the same assuming they annually renew  
               their registration.  Under Governors Reorganization Plan 1,  
               (GRP 1) operations previously administered by SPB have been  
               transferred to CalHR, including responsibility for this  
               program.

           This Bill Facilitates The Transition of Certain Statutory  
          Obligations Following The Reorganization of the State Personnel  
          Board and the Department of Personnel Administration Into the  
          New California Department of Human Resources.   This bill would  
          repeal Government Code provisions that require the State  
          Personnel Board to annually certify interpreters who may be  
          needed in administrative hearings. This proposal also repeals  
          the annual fee interpreters previously paid to SPB to be  
          included on the SPB list. 

          Prior to the consolidation of the SPB and the DPA into the new  
          CalHR, SPB was charged with providing testing for administrative  
          hearing and medical examination interpreters, as well as  
          maintaining and publishing a list of interpreters to be utilized  
          by the departments when needed.  While this function was under  
          SPB's purview, SPB apparently contracted with an outside entity,  
          Cooperative Personnel Services (CPS), to administer the  
          examination at a cost that reportedly grew to $250,000 a year.   
          When SPB could no longer afford the program in 2006, it  
          cancelled its contract with CPS and undertook to simply maintain  
          the list of interpreters by collecting annual renewal fees and  
          providing the list to departments on a yearly basis.  The  








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          current renewal fee is $100 per year.  However, the statutory  
          obligations of SPB/CalHR regarding interpreters have not been  
          abrogated. 
           
          The certification examination has apparently not been offered  
          since 2006 and the administration apparently does not intend to  
          offer it again.  Those who were on the list as of the last  
          certification in 2006 have remained on the list since then by  
          paying a renewal fee annually.  CalHR reports that there are  
          currently approximately 630 names on the list.  Under this bill,  
          the SPB list as it exists at the end of this year would be  
          preserved by CalHR for five years, and available to agencies who  
          wish to make use of it.  However, the bill would relieve CalHR  
          of the obligation to maintain an updated list.  Thus, the value  
          of the list will diminish over time, and the bill provides that  
          CalHR need not maintain the list after five years.  During this  
          five-year period, and afterward, agencies could alternatively  
          make use of interpreters certified by the courts as well as  
          those certified by the Division of Workers Compensation.  
           
          The Bill Also Clarifies The Obligations Of State Agencies to  
          Provide Interpreters In Specified Administrative Proceedings.    
          Existing law requires agencies to use interpreters when needed  
          and directs them to use an interpreter on the SPB list, or a  
          certified court interpreter.  Agencies may also use another  
          qualified interpreter.  However, the statute does not provide  
          adequate guidance about how that process is to work.  This bill  
          would clarify that agencies are to use qualified interpreters  
          and specifies the criteria for making that determination based  
          on the process and criteria by which interpreters are currently  
          qualified in court proceedings. 

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 

           California Association of Joint Powers Authorities

           Opposition 
           
          None on file

           Analysis Prepared by  :  Kevin G. Baker and Kelsey Fischer/ JUD. /  
          (916) 319-2334 









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