Full Text of SB3762 103rd General Assembly
SB3762enr 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | SB3762 Enrolled | | LRB103 38804 JRC 68941 b |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning government. | 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 | | represented in the General Assembly: | 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Language Equity and Access Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Legislative purpose. The purpose of this Act is | 7 | | to ensure that all residents of the State have equal access to | 8 | | State services and, in particular, to remove language as a | 9 | | barrier for persons who have limited English proficiency and | 10 | | who may, therefore, be excluded from equitable access to State | 11 | | information, programs, services, and activities. It is the | 12 | | intent of the General Assembly that the State adopt a language | 13 | | equity and access policy that incorporates federal guidance | 14 | | for ensuring meaningful access for persons with limited | 15 | | English proficiency as provided by the Illinois Human Rights | 16 | | Act, the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003, Title VI of the | 17 | | Civil Rights Act of 1964, U.S. Presidential Executive Order | 18 | | No. 13166 (Improving Access to Services for Persons with | 19 | | Limited English Proficiency), U.S. Presidential Executive | 20 | | Order 13985 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for | 21 | | Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government), U.S. | 22 | | Presidential Executive Order 14091 (Further Advancing Racial | 23 | | Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the |
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| 1 | | Federal Government), other non-discrimination provisions in | 2 | | federal or State statutes, and any succeeding provisions of | 3 | | federal or State law, regulation, or guidance. | 4 | | Section 10. Definitions. In this Act: | 5 | | "Interpretation" means listening to a communication in one | 6 | | language and orally converting it to another language in a | 7 | | manner that preserves the intent and meaning of the original | 8 | | message. | 9 | | "Language assistance services" means oral and written | 10 | | language services needed to assist LEP individuals to | 11 | | communicate effectively with staff, and to provide LEP | 12 | | individuals with meaningful access to, and equal opportunity | 13 | | to participate fully in, the services, activities, or other | 14 | | programs administered by the State. | 15 | | "Limited English proficient (LEP) person" means an | 16 | | individual who does not speak English as his or her primary | 17 | | language and who has a limited ability to read, speak, write, | 18 | | or understand English. | 19 | | "Meaningful access" means language assistance that results | 20 | | in accurate, timely, and effective communication at no cost to | 21 | | limited English proficient persons. For LEP persons, | 22 | | meaningful access denotes access that is not unreasonably | 23 | | restricted, delayed, or inferior as compared to access to | 24 | | programs or activities provided to English proficient | 25 | | individuals. |
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| 1 | | "State agency" means an executive agency, department, | 2 | | board, commission, or authority directly responsible to the | 3 | | Governor. | 4 | | "Translation" means the conversion of text from one | 5 | | language to another in a written form to convey the intent and | 6 | | essential meaning of the original text. | 7 | | "Vital documents" means paper or electronic written | 8 | | material that contains information that affects a person's | 9 | | access to, retention of, termination of, or exclusion from | 10 | | program services or benefits or is required by law. | 11 | | Section 15. Statewide Language Equity and Access. | 12 | | (a) This Act is created to ensure meaningful access to | 13 | | State programs and resources for limited proficient (LEP) | 14 | | persons. This Act requires the Governor's Office of New | 15 | | Americans, with the support of the Department of Human | 16 | | Services and any other relevant agencies to, at a minimum: | 17 | | (1) prepare, based on available U.S. Census data, a | 18 | | Language Needs Assessment Report that identifies the | 19 | | languages spoken throughout the State as described in | 20 | | Section 25 of this Act; | 21 | | (2) assist State agencies in the creation of language | 22 | | access plans as detailed in Section 30 of this Act; | 23 | | (3) develop standards and a compliance framework to | 24 | | assess progress by State agencies, including both key | 25 | | performance indicators and mechanisms to track them; |
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| 1 | | (4) provide annual reporting on State agency | 2 | | compliance and progress to the Governor and the General | 3 | | Assembly by December 31 of every year starting in 2026; | 4 | | (5) establish requirements for the availability of | 5 | | interpretation and translation services; | 6 | | (6) set standards for adequate staffing of bilingual | 7 | | employees at State agencies, including a methodology for | 8 | | monitoring implementation and updating the State Services | 9 | | Assurance Act and the Bilingual Employment Plan, based on | 10 | | the Language Needs Assessment Report; | 11 | | (7) incorporate language equity compliance provisions | 12 | | in State contracts with vendors, grantees and purchase of | 13 | | care entities; and | 14 | | (8) ensure that whenever an emergency, weather, | 15 | | health, or other crisis situation has been declared, the | 16 | | State's limited English person population is adequately | 17 | | notified of the emergency, information, any actions | 18 | | required, and has equitable access to emergency resources. | 19 | | (b) The Governor's Office of New Americans, with the | 20 | | support of the Department of Human Services and any other | 21 | | relevant agencies, shall lead statewide efforts in the | 22 | | implementation of the State's language equity and access | 23 | | policy for LEP persons and to ensure meaningful access to | 24 | | information, services, programs, and activities offered by | 25 | | State agencies for LEP persons. The role of the Governor's | 26 | | Office of New Americans in this work is to advance and monitor |
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| 1 | | implementation of and compliance with this Act by: | 2 | | (1) providing oversight, central coordination, and | 3 | | technical assistance to State agencies in the | 4 | | implementation of language access requirements under this | 5 | | Act or under any other law, rule, or guidance related to | 6 | | language access; | 7 | | (2) reviewing and monitoring each State agency's | 8 | | language access plan for compliance with this Act; | 9 | | (3) consulting with Language Access Coordinators and | 10 | | State agency directors or their equivalent; | 11 | | (4) creating, distributing, and making available to | 12 | | State agencies multilingual signage in the more frequently | 13 | | encountered languages in the State and other languages as | 14 | | needed, informing individuals of the individual's right to | 15 | | free interpretation services and how to request language | 16 | | services; | 17 | | (5) ensuring that each State agency develops an | 18 | | internal complaint and review process specific to the | 19 | | provision of language assistance services and supporting | 20 | | agencies in addressing complaints in a timely manner; | 21 | | (6) developing recommendations for the use of | 22 | | interpreters and translators, including standards for | 23 | | certification and qualifications; | 24 | | (7) assisting State agencies in developing | 25 | | multilingual websites with information about relevant | 26 | | policies, standards, plans, and complaint processes; |
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| 1 | | (8) assisting State agencies in preparing public | 2 | | notices of the availability of translation or | 3 | | interpretation services upon request; | 4 | | (9) preparing an annual compliance report to be | 5 | | submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly; and | 6 | | (10) addressing other issues as necessary to ensure | 7 | | equity and meaningful participation for persons with | 8 | | limited English proficiency. | 9 | | Section 20. Statewide Language Needs Assessment. The | 10 | | Governor's Office of New Americans, with the support of the | 11 | | Department of Human Services and any other relevant State | 12 | | agencies, shall compile available United States Census data on | 13 | | languages used across the State, including the identification | 14 | | of geographic patterns and trend data, to inform the Language | 15 | | Needs Assessment Report. The report shall be updated at least | 16 | | every 10 years in conjunction with the decennial federal | 17 | | Census but may be updated more frequently using other Census | 18 | | data reports. | 19 | | The Language Needs Assessment report shall be made | 20 | | available to State agencies for the development of their | 21 | | language access plans and overall improvement in service | 22 | | provision to LEP persons. | 23 | | Section 25. Language access plans. | 24 | | (a) Each State agency shall take reasonable steps to |
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| 1 | | ensure meaningful access to services, programs, and activities | 2 | | by LEP persons. Therefore, each State agency shall prepare and | 3 | | submit a language access plan to the Governor's Office of New | 4 | | Americans. Each language access plan should describe the | 5 | | population of LEP persons the agency serves, the policy and | 6 | | programmatic actions the agency will implement to ensure | 7 | | meaningful access, and the metrics the agency will use to | 8 | | measure compliance with this Act. | 9 | | (b) Each State agency shall designate a Language Access | 10 | | Coordinator who is responsible for overseeing the development | 11 | | and implementation of the agency's language access plan. | 12 | | (c) The adequacy of a State agency's language access plan | 13 | | shall be determined by the totality of the circumstances, | 14 | | including an individualized assessment that balances the | 15 | | following factors: | 16 | | (1) the number or proportion of LEP persons who are | 17 | | served or encountered in the eligible service population | 18 | | of the State agency; | 19 | | (2) the frequency with which LEP persons come in | 20 | | contact with the services, programs, or activities | 21 | | provided by the State agency; | 22 | | (3) the nature and importance of the services, | 23 | | programs, or activities provided by the State agency; and | 24 | | (4) the resources available to the State agency and | 25 | | the costs. | 26 | | (d) Each State agency shall describe in its plans how it |
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| 1 | | will provide all of the following: | 2 | | (1) competent, timely translation and interpretation | 3 | | services to LEP persons who are seeking access to | 4 | | information, services, programs, or activities provided by | 5 | | the State agency; and | 6 | | (2) vital document translation services for LEP | 7 | | persons who are seeking access to information, services, | 8 | | programs, or activities provided by the State agency, as | 9 | | follows: | 10 | | (A) if there are more than 1,000 LEP persons in the | 11 | | population of persons served by the State agency or if | 12 | | LEP persons comprise more than 5% of the population of | 13 | | persons served by the State agency; or | 14 | | (B) if there are fewer than 50 persons served by | 15 | | the State agency that reach the 5% threshold in | 16 | | subparagraph (A), the State agency shall provide | 17 | | written notice in the primary language to the LEP | 18 | | persons of the right to receive competent oral | 19 | | interpretation of those written materials free of | 20 | | cost. | 21 | | (3) Following the first submitted plan, language | 22 | | access plans shall include an assessment of performance | 23 | | metrics for the previous State fiscal year. | 24 | | (e) The Governor's Office of New Americans, with the | 25 | | support of the Department of Human Services and any other | 26 | | relevant State agencies, shall develop a template and |
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| 1 | | mechanism for collecting and analyzing State agency language | 2 | | access plans. | 3 | | (f) Following completion of the assessment, the Governor's | 4 | | Office of New Americans, with the support of the Department of | 5 | | Human Services and any other relevant State agencies, shall | 6 | | provide guidance and feedback to each State agency, including | 7 | | any recommendations to ensure compliance with this Act. | 8 | | (g) Language access plans shall be made publicly | 9 | | accessible by each State agency. | 10 | | Section 30. Compliance and accountability. | 11 | | (a) No later than July 1, 2025, the Governor's Office of | 12 | | New Americans shall prepare and submit to the General Assembly | 13 | | a Language Equity and Access Status Report detailing the | 14 | | progress made by State agencies in the implementation of this | 15 | | Act, including the development of Language Access Plans. | 16 | | (b) By December 31, 2026, and every December 31 | 17 | | thereafter, the Governor's Office of New Americans shall | 18 | | submit a Language Equity and Access Compliance Report to the | 19 | | General Assembly. The Compliance Report shall be based on | 20 | | information collected during the preceding fiscal year and | 21 | | shall, at a minimum, include: | 22 | | (1) key performance metrics for the previous year; | 23 | | (2) the following information for each State agency: | 24 | | (A) a high-level summary of the language access | 25 | | plan, including language access services offered; |
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| 1 | | (B) as applicable, the number and percentage of | 2 | | LEP persons who use the services of the State agency, | 3 | | listed by language other than English; | 4 | | (C) aggregate data on the number of bilingual | 5 | | employees, by title, who are in roles designated as | 6 | | requiring a person employed in that position to speak | 7 | | or write in a language other than English, including | 8 | | the languages that the persons are required to speak | 9 | | in that role, and whether the employees are certified | 10 | | as bilingual in those languages; | 11 | | (D) the name and contact information of the | 12 | | Language Access Coordinator for each State agency; | 13 | | (E) an ongoing employee development and training | 14 | | strategy to maintain well-trained bilingual employees | 15 | | and general staff; | 16 | | (F) data on the use of any interpretation or | 17 | | translation vendor services such as number and type of | 18 | | language services requested, languages requested, and | 19 | | any other relevant data; and | 20 | | (G) aggregate data on the number of complaints | 21 | | filed and the status or resolution of the complaints. | 22 | | (c) The Governor's Office of New Americans shall attempt | 23 | | to resolve a language access complaint received by a State | 24 | | agency if the agency does not resolve the complaint in a timely | 25 | | manner or the resolution is inadequate. Upon referral of a | 26 | | complaint, the Governor's Office of New Americans may engage |
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| 1 | | in informal processes, including mediation, conference, and | 2 | | conciliation, to resolve the complaint. | 3 | | Section 35. Implementation. The Governor's Office of New | 4 | | Americans may work in collaboration with the Department of | 5 | | Human Services and any other relevant State agency to | 6 | | implement this Act. | 7 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 8 | | becoming law. |
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