BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 2253
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 14, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    AB 2253 (Ting) - As Amended:  April 10, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              Accountability  
          and Administrative Review                     Vote: 12 - 0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires state agencies that serve a substantial  
          number of non-English speakers under the Dymally-Alatorre  
          Bilingual Services Act (Dymally-Alatorre) to provide translated  
          forms and processes for submitting complaints about language  
          access.  Specifically, this bill:  

          1)Requires agencies to post translated complaint forms and  
            information about filing complaints on the homepages of their  
            websites and have them available at their offices by July 1,  
            2015.

          2)Clarifies that requirements of Dymally-Alatorre apply to  
            statewide offices.
            
          3)Requires the Department of Human Resources (CalHR) to issue  
            orders to agencies when it determines that the agencies have  
            not made reasonable progress toward complying with  
            Dymally-Alatorre.        

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Varying costs to state agencies, likely in the range of  
            $150,000 to $200,000 statewide to post translated complaint  
            forms on their websites. Agencies are currently required to  
            post information in their offices regarding language access  
            complaint procedures and some have this information on their  
            websites.

          2)Minor and absorbable costs to CalHR to issue orders to  
            agencies they determine have not made reasonable progress  








                                                                  AB 2253
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            toward complying with Dymally-Alatorre.  This requirement is  
            optional under current law and CalHR indicates it already  
            works with departments to address identified deficiencies.      
              

          3)Negligible fiscal impact to CalHR to apply requirements of  
            Dymally-Alatorre to statewide offices. CalHR indicates they  
            already do this for statewide offices that have contact with  
            the public.

           COMMENTS
           
           1)Purpose  . According to the author, agency websites vary greatly  
            in providing information about complaints. Some have specific  
            online complaint forms about Dymally-Alatorre non-compliance  
            while others have no references to the law or easily-found  
            information on how to complain about language barriers.  When  
            forms or complaint information is online, it is usually  
            available only in English, though some forms are available in  
            Spanish, and some agencies have website functions that  
            translate content into various languages.

            The author believes, "This bill's requirement to post  
            translated language-access complaint forms on agencies' home  
            pages and making them available in state offices would empower  
            non-English speakers to communicate with their government more  
            effectively."

           2)Background  . The Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act  
            requires agencies to provide the same information that is  
            available in English in other languages if the agency services  
            a "substantial number" of non-English speakers.  To determine  
            which languages must be included, agencies are required to  
            conduct surveys every other year to assess their contact with  
            non-English speakers.  They must create or update  
            implementation plans to ensure compliance and submit them to  
            CalHR.

            According to a recent Statewide Language Survey and  
            Implementation Plan Report, 92% of agencies have procedures in  
            place to capture language access complaints.  Agencies  
            typically post information in their offices about how to  
            complain about language access issues and CalHR has a  
            toll-free number to accept language access complaints. 









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            Agency websites vary greatly in providing information. Some  
            have specific online complaint forms about Dymally-Alatorre  
            non-compliance while others have no references to the law or  
            easily-found information on how to complain about language  
            barriers.  When a language barrier complaint form or complaint  
            information is online, it is usually available only in  
            English.  Some forms are available in Spanish and some  
            agencies have functions on their websites that translate  
            content into various languages.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081