Full Text of HJR0040 98th General Assembly
HJ0040eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 40
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Language barriers continue to exist for many | 3 | | Illinois residents who are limited English proficient, known as | 4 | | "LEP"; these barriers limit their ability to fully participate | 5 | | in civic life and maximize their economic productivity; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Such language barriers for LEP residents create | 7 | | very real challenges when trying to access information about | 8 | | available government services or an individual's legal rights | 9 | | or obligations under State and local laws; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act requires program | 11 | | recipients of federal funds, such as certain State agencies, to | 12 | | take reasonable steps to ensure that LEP persons have | 13 | | meaningful access to their programs and activities; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Nearly 10% of Illinois' population is LEP, giving | 15 | | Illinois the 5th largest LEP population in the United States at | 16 | | over 1.1 million residents; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Illinois' immigrant communities have rapidly | 18 | | grown and now one in every five Illinois residents is an | 19 | | immigrant; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Illinois is proud of being one of the most |
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| 1 | | immigrant-friendly states in the nation; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The public safety, health, economic prosperity, | 3 | | and general welfare of all Illinois residents is furthered by | 4 | | increasing language access to State programs and services; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, The Governor's Office of New Americans | 6 | | Interagency Task Force, which met from 2006 to 2008, | 7 | | recommended that Illinois commit to providing meaningful | 8 | | access to State services for the LEP population to encourage | 9 | | and accelerate immigrant and refugee integration; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Despite admirable efforts by certain State | 11 | | agencies, much work remains to provide meaningful access; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Other immigrant-friendly states and cities have | 13 | | attempted to address this issue by implementing language access | 14 | | laws or ordinances that require a base-line level of language | 15 | | access to government services and information for LEP | 16 | | individuals; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly is committed to | 18 | | exploring legislative solutions to improve language access for | 19 | | LEP residents by researching lessons learned and best practices | 20 | | from these other parts of the country; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 2 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 3 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Task Force on Language | 4 | | Access to Government Services is created to: | 5 | | (1) review existing language access laws or ordinances | 6 | | in other parts of the country, including existing reports or | 7 | | academic publications on such laws or ordinances;
| 8 | | (2) evaluate their effectiveness in eliminating | 9 | | language barriers for LEP communities; | 10 | | (3) consider any other available and relevant | 11 | | information on language access issues in Illinois, including | 12 | | Census data, community feedback, or surveys; | 13 | | (4) identify and recommend specific best-practices and | 14 | | provisions for a State language access law; and | 15 | | (5) produce a final report summarizing the task force's | 16 | | findings and detailing its specific recommendations for a State | 17 | | language access law and highlight any areas of major | 18 | | disagreement within the task force; and be it further | 19 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall consist of the | 20 | | following members, who shall serve without compensation: | 21 | | (1) one member of the Senate appointed by the President | 22 | | of the Senate; | 23 | | (2) one member of the Senate appointed by the Minority | 24 | | Leader of the Senate; | 25 | | (3) one member of the House of Representatives |
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| 1 | | appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; | 2 | | (4) one member of the House of Representatives | 3 | | appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of | 4 | | Representatives; | 5 | | (5) one member appointed by the Governor as a | 6 | | representative of his office; | 7 | | (6) one member appointed by the Attorney General as a | 8 | | representative of her office; | 9 | | (7) one member appointed by the Secretary of State as a | 10 | | representative of his office; | 11 | | (8) one member appointed by the Secretary of the | 12 | | Illinois Department of Human Services as a representative of | 13 | | her office; | 14 | | (9) five members appointed by the Governor, upon | 15 | | recommendation of a non-profit organization that promotes | 16 | | civic engagement and advocates on behalf of immigrant | 17 | | communities through a coalition of member organizations that | 18 | | serve Latino, Asian, African, Arab, and European immigrants; | 19 | | and | 20 | | (10) five members appointed by the Governor, upon | 21 | | recommendation of a non-profit organization that promotes | 22 | | civic engagement among Asian American communities and | 23 | | advocates on behalf of Asian American communities through its | 24 | | Pan-Asian coalition; and be it further | 25 | | RESOLVED, That the members of the Task Force shall be |
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| 1 | | appointed within 30 days after the adoption of this resolution | 2 | | and shall begin meeting no later than 30 days after the | 3 | | appointments are finalized; in the event that any appointment | 4 | | by the Governor upon the recommendation of a non-profit | 5 | | organization that promotes civic engagement and advocates on | 6 | | behalf of immigrant communities through a coalition of member | 7 | | organizations that serve Latino, Asian, African, Arab and | 8 | | European immigrants or any appointment by the Governor upon the | 9 | | recommendation of a non-profit organization that promotes | 10 | | civic engagement among Asian American communities and | 11 | | advocates on behalf of Asian American communities through its | 12 | | Pan-Asian coalition is not made within 30 days after the | 13 | | adoption of this resolution, the Secretary of Human Services | 14 | | shall make such appointments within 15 days after the | 15 | | appointment deadline; and be it further | 16 | | RESOLVED, That the members of the Task Force shall elect a | 17 | | chairperson from among their membership and that the Department | 18 | | of Human Services shall provide administrative support; and be | 19 | | it further | 20 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall hold its first meeting | 21 | | by September 1, 2013; and be it further | 22 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall submit its final report | 23 | | to the Illinois General Assembly, the Governor, and the |
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| 1 | | Attorney General no later than July 1, 2014.
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