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 Page 2 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. AB 2253 Page 3 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