Amended in Assembly April 10, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2253


Introduced by Assembly Member Ting

February 21, 2014


An act to amendbegin delete Sectionend deletebegin insert Sections 7295.4, 7296.2, 7296.4, andend insert 7299.4 ofbegin insert, and to add Section 7299.3 to,end insert the Government Code, relating to bilingual services.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2253, as amended, Ting. Bilingual services: implementation plans.

The Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act requires each state agency to conduct a survey, related to its bilingual services, of each of its local offices every two years to determine specified information, and to report results and any additional information requested to the Department of Human Resources. The act requires each agency that serves a substantial number of non-English-speaking people who comprise 5% or more of the people served to develop an implementation plan, as specified, in every odd-numbered year, and to submit the implementation plan to the department for its review. The act authorizes the department, if it determines that a state agency has not made reasonable progress toward complying with the act, to issue orders that it deems appropriate to effectuate the purposes of the act.

This bill would instead require the department, if it determines that a state agency has not made reasonable progress toward complying with the act, to issue orders that it deems appropriate to effectuate the purposes of the act.begin insert The bill would require specified state agencies to, by January 1, 2015, translate and make accessible on the homepage of their Internet Web sites, forms and processes for submitting complaints of alleged violations of these provisions, and to make translated copies of these forms available, as provided. The bill would also require each state agency to conduct a survey, related to its bilingual services, of each of its statewide offices to determine specified information.end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1begin insert

begin insertSECTION 1.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 7295.4 of the end insertbegin insertGovernment Codeend insertbegin insert is
2amended to read:end insert

3

7295.4.  

Whenever a state agency finds that the factors listed
4in both subdivisions (a) and (c) or (b) and (c) exist, it shall
5distribute the applicable written materials in the appropriate
6non-English language through itsbegin insert statewide andend insert local offices or
7facilities to non-English-speaking persons, or, as an alternative,
8the state agency may instead elect to furnish translation aids,
9translation guides, or provide assistance, through use of a qualified
10bilingual person, at itsbegin insert statewide andend insert local offices or facilities in
11completing English forms or questionnaires and in understanding
12English forms, letters, or notices:

13(a) The written materials, whether forms, applications,
14questionnaires, letters, or notices solicit or require the furnishing
15of information from an individual or provide that individual with
16information.

17(b) The information solicited, required, or furnished affects or
18may affect the individual’s rights, duties, or privileges with regard
19to that agency’s services or benefits.

20(c) Thebegin insert statewide orend insert local office or facility of the agency with
21which the individual is dealing, serves a substantial number of
22non-English-speaking persons.

23begin insert

begin insertSEC. 2.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 7296.2 of the end insertbegin insertGovernment Codeend insertbegin insert is amended
24to read:end insert

25

7296.2.  

As used in Sections 7292begin delete andend deletebegin insert,end insert 7295.2,begin insert 7295.4, 7299.3,
26and 7299.4,end insert
a “substantial number of non-English-speaking people”
27are members of a group who either do not speak English, or who
28are unable to effectively communicate in English because it is not
29their native language, and who comprise 5 percent or more of the
P3    1people served bybegin insert the statewide orend insert any local office or facility of a
2state agency.

3begin insert

begin insertSEC. 3.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 7296.4 of the end insertbegin insertGovernment Codeend insertbegin insert is amended
4to read:end insert

5

7296.4.  

As used in Section 7292, “a sufficient number of
6qualified bilingual persons in public contact positions” is the
7number required to provide the same level of services to
8non-English-speaking persons as is available to English-speaking
9persons seeking these services. However, where thebegin insert statewide orend insert
10 local office or facility of the state employs the equivalent of 25 or
11fewer regular, full-time employees, it shall constitute compliance
12with the requirements of this chapter if a sufficient number of
13qualified bilingual persons are employed in public contact
14positions, or as qualified interpreters to assist those in those
15positions, to provide the same level of services to
16non-English-speaking persons as is available to English-speaking
17persons seeking the services from the office or facility.

18begin insert

begin insertSEC. 4.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 7299.3 is added to the end insertbegin insertGovernment Codeend insertbegin insert, to
19read:end insert

begin insert
20

begin insert7299.3.end insert  

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
21by July 1, 2015, a state agency subject to the requirements of this
22chapter shall translate and make accessible on the homepage of
23its Internet Web site, forms and processes for submitting complaints
24of alleged violations of this chapter, as referenced in paragraph
25(15) of subdivision (b) of Section 7299.4. The forms and processes
26shall be translated into all languages spoken by a substantial
27number of non-English-speaking people served by the state agency.
28Translated copies of the forms shall be printed and made available
29in the statewide office and any local office or facility of the state
30agency.

end insert
31

begin deleteSECTION 1.end delete
32begin insertSEC. 5.end insert  

Section 7299.4 of the Government Code is amended
33to read:

34

7299.4.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter,
35each state agency shall conduct a language survey and develop
36and update an implementation plan that complies with the
37requirements of this chapter.

38(b) Each agency shall conduct a language survey of each of its
39begin insert statewide andend insert local offices every two years to determine and
40provide all of the following:

P4    1(1) The name, position, and contact information of the employee
2designated by the agency responsible for complying with this
3chapter.

4(2) The number of public contact positions in eachbegin insert statewide
5andend insert
local office.

6(3) The number of qualified bilingual employees in public
7contact positions in eachbegin insert statewide andend insert local office, and the
8languages they speak, other than English.

9(4) The number and percentage of non-English-speaking people
10served by eachbegin insert statewide andend insert local office, broken down by native
11language.

12(5) The number of anticipated vacancies in public contact
13positions.

14(6) Whether the use of other available options, including
15contracted telephone-based interpretation services, in addition to
16qualified bilingual persons in public contact positions, is serving
17the language needs of the people served by the agency.

18(7) A list of all written materials that are required to be translated
19or otherwise made accessible to non- or limited-English-speaking
20individuals by Sections 7295.2 and 7295.4.

21(8) A list of materials identified in paragraph (7) that have been
22translated and languages into which they have been translated.

23(9) The number of additional qualified bilingual public contact
24staff, if any, needed at eachbegin insert statewide andend insert local office to comply
25with this chapter.

26(10) A detailed description of the agency’s procedures for
27identifying written materials that are required to be translated.

28(11) Each agency shall calculate the percentage of
29non-English-speaking people served by eachbegin insert statewide andend insert local
30office by rounding the percentage arrived at to the nearest whole
31percentage point.

32(12) A detailed description of the agency’s procedures for
33identifying language needs atbegin insert statewide andend insert local offices and
34 assigning qualified bilingual staff to those offices.

35(13) A detailed description of how the agency recruits qualified
36bilingual staff inbegin insert statewide andend insert local offices.

37(14) A detailed description of any training the agency provides
38to its staff on the provision of services to non- or
39limited-English-speaking individuals, frequency of training, and
40date of most recent training.

P5    1(15) A detailed description ofbegin insert complaints regarding language
2access received by the agency andend insert
the agency’s procedures for
3accepting and resolving complaints of an alleged violation due to
4failure to make available translated documents or provide
5interpreter service through bilingual staff or contract services.

6(16) A detailed description of how the agency complies with
7any federal or other state laws that require the provision of
8linguistically accessible services to the public.

9(17) Any other relevant information requested by the Department
10of Human Resources.

11(c) The language survey results and any additional information
12requested shall be reported in the form and at the time required by
13the Department of Human Resources, and delivered to the
14department not later than October 1 of every even-numbered year.

15(d) Every odd-numbered year, each agency that served a
16substantial number of non-English-speaking peoplebegin delete who comprise
175 percent or more of the people servedend delete
shall develop an
18implementation plan that provides a detailed description of how
19the agency plans to address any deficiencies in meeting the
20requirements of this chapter, including, but not limited to, the
21failure to translate written materials or employ sufficient numbers
22of qualified bilingual employees in public contact positions at
23begin insert statewide andend insert local offices, the proposed actions to be taken to
24address the deficiencies, and the proposed dates by when the
25deficiencies will be remedied.

26(e) In developing its implementation plan, each state agency
27may rely upon data gathered from its most recent language survey.

28(f) Each state agency shall submit its implementation plan to
29the Department of Human Resources no later than October 1 of
30each applicable year. The Department of Human Resources shall
31review each implementation plan, and, if it determines that the
32implementation plan fails to address the identified deficiencies,
33shall order the agency to supplement or make changes to its plan.
34A state agency that has been determined to be deficient shall report
35to the Department of Human Resources every six months on its
36progress in addressing the identified deficiencies.

37(g) If the Department of Human Resources determines that a
38state agency has not made reasonable progress toward complying
P6    1with this chapter, the department shall issue orders that it deems
2appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.



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