BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 2253 (Ting) - Bilingual services: translation of complaint
forms.
Amended: April 10, 2014 Policy Vote: GO 10-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2253 would require a state agency to translate
forms and procedures for submitting complaints related to
violations of the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act and
make them available on its website by July 1, 2015. The agency
must translate the forms and procedures into all languages
spoken by a substantial number of non-English speaking people
served by the agency, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
Unknown, one-time costs to state agencies that serve a
substantial number of limited-English proficient (LEP)
persons. Although cumulative statewide costs are likely
significant (potentially in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars), costs to each individual agency are likely to be
minor and absorbable. (General Fund, various special funds)
Minor and absorbable costs to the Department of Human
Resources (CalHR) to issue compliance orders to agencies
that have identified deficiencies related to the Bilingual
Services Act. This is currently a discretionary duty.
(General Fund)
Background: Existing law, the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual
Services Act, ensures that LEP populations have access to
government services by requiring state agencies that serve a
"substantial number of non-English speaking people" (that
comprise at least 5% of the people served) to employ a
sufficient number of bilingual staff in public contact positions
and translate written materials and make them available to LEP
persons they serve. The Act requires state agencies to conduct
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a language survey of each of its offices every two years to
determine the adequacy of services provided to LEP persons and
submit the survey to CalHR by October 1 of even-numbered years.
Existing law also requires each agency to develop an
implementation plan that identifies how the agency will address
deficiencies, and submit the plan to CalHR by October 1 of every
odd-numbered year. CalHR reviews the implementation plans and
works with agencies to address identified issues. If an agency
has not made reasonable progress towards compliance with the
Bilingual Services Act, CalHR is authorized to issue orders it
deems appropriate to effectuate the Act's purposes.
State agencies that serve LEP persons are required to have a
process in place that provides for language access complaints,
and to post relevant information about that process in public
offices.
Proposed Law: AB 2253 would require a state agency that serves
LEP populations to translate forms and procedures for submitting
complaints related to violations of the Bilingual Services Act
and make them available on its website and in state and local
offices by July 1, 2015. The agency must translate the forms
and procedures into all languages spoken by a "substantial
number of non-English speaking people" served by the agency.
The bill would also clarify that the requirements of the Act
apply to statewide offices, in addition to local offices, and
would require, rather than authorize, CalHR to issue compliance
orders to agencies that have not made reasonable progress toward
compliance with the Bilingual Services Act.
Staff Comments: AB 2253 would require a state agency subject to
the requirements of the Bilingual Services Act would to
translate complaint forms and procedures, post that information
on the agency website, print and distribute materials to state
and local offices, and track and report complaint information
for inclusion in the biennial language survey. Total
translation, printing, distribution, and staff costs for each
state agency are likely to be no more than $5,000 to $10,000,
depending on the number of languages spoken by LEP populations
served by an agency. As noted above, the statewide fiscal
impact of this bill could be significant, and cumulative General
Fund costs could exceed $50,000, but it is likely that each
agency would absorb the minor workload and costs associated with
the bill.
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If CalHR determines that a state agency is not making reasonable
progress towards identified deficiencies noted in the biennial
implementation plan, current law authorizes CalHR to issue
orders it deems appropriate to effectuate the purposes of the
Bilingual Services Act. AB 2253 bill makes the issuance of
compliance orders mandatory, rather than discretionary. CalHR
indicates that any costs to issue orders would be minor since
the department currently works closely with agencies to correct
any deficiencies.