103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB5387

 

Introduced 2/9/2024, by Rep. Dagmara Avelar

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Language Equity and Access Act. Creates the Division of Language Equity and Access within the Governor's Office of New Americans to lead statewide efforts in the implementation of the State's language equity and access policy for limited English proficient persons and to ensure meaningful access to information, services, programs, and activities offered by State agencies and other covered entities, including departments, offices, commissions, boards, or other agencies, for limited English proficient persons. Provides that the Division shall provide expertise and monitor implementation of the Act. Provides that the Division shall work with State agencies and covered entities and use other available State resources, such as the Office of New Americans, the Office of Equity, and the Department of Human Services Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Services, to ensure that the State compiles available U.S. Census data on languages used across the State, including the identification of geographic patterns and trend data. Provides that each State agency and covered entity shall prepare a language access plan that will describe its limited English proficient service population, the policy and programmatic actions it will implement and the metrics that will be used to measure compliance. Provides that the Division will prepare and submit a Language Equity and Access Compliance Report to the General Assembly by January 1, 2026 and annually thereafter. Provides that the Governor's Office shall provide administrative and other support to the Governor's Office of New Americans and its Division of Language Equity and Access. Defines terms. Effective July 1, 2025.


LRB103 38827 JRC 68964 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5387LRB103 38827 JRC 68964 b

1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Language Equity and Access Act.
 
6    Section 5. Legislative purpose. The purpose of this Act is
7to ensure that all residents of the State have equal access to
8State services and, in particular, to remove language as a
9barrier for persons who have limited English proficiency and
10who may, therefore, be excluded from equitable access to State
11information, programs, services, and activities. It is the
12intent of the General Assembly that the State adopt a language
13equity and access policy that incorporates federal guidance
14for ensuring meaningful access for persons with limited
15English proficiency as provided by Title VI of the Civil
16Rights Act of 1964, U.S. Presidential Executive Order No.
1713166 (Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited
18English Proficiency), U.S. Presidential Executive Order 13985
19(Strengthen Racial Equity and Support for Underserved
20Communities Through the Federal Government), U.S. Presidential
21Executive Order 14091 (Further Advancing Racial Equity and
22Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal
23Government), other non-discrimination provisions in federal

 

 

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1statute, and any succeeding provisions of federal or state
2law, regulation, or guidance.
 
3    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
4    "Covered entity" means any office, commission, board,
5authority, or other body that is directly responsible to an
6executive branch constitutional officer other than the
7Governor.
8    "Division of Language Equity and Access" or "DLEA" means
9the Division of Language Equity and Access within the
10Governor's Office of New Americans.
11    "Interpretation services" means listening to a
12communication in one language and orally converting it to
13another language in a manner that preserves the intent and
14meaning of the original message.
15    "Limited English proficient person" means a person, or the
16family member, caregiver, or decision maker of a person, who
17does not speak English as their primary language and who may
18have a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand
19English.
20    "Meaningful access" means the provision of services in a
21manner that is equally accessible, without delay, denial or
22difference, and is meaningful to all individuals seeking
23services, regardless of their ability to speak or understand
24English.
25    "State agency" means executive agencies, departments,

 

 

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1boards, commissions, and authorities directly responsible to
2the Governor.
3    "Translation services" means the conversion of text from
4one language to another in a written form to convey the intent
5and essential meaning of the original text.
6    "Vital documents" means documents that affect a person's
7access to, retention of, termination of, or exclusion from
8program services or benefits.
 
9    Section 15. Statewide language equity and access. This Act
10is created to ensure meaningful access to State programs and
11resources for limited English proficient persons. This Act
12requires the Division of Language Equity and Access to, at a
13minimum:
14        (1) compile, based on available U.S. Census data, a
15    Language Needs Assessment Report that identifies the
16    languages spoken throughout the State as described in
17    Section 25 of this Act;
18        (2) prepare a language access plan as detailed in
19    Section 30 of this Act;
20        (3) develop a rating and compliance framework to
21    assess progress by State agencies and covered entities,
22    including key performance indicators;
23        (4) prepare a compliance and progress report to be
24    submitted on an annual basis to the Governor and the
25    General Assembly by January 1 of every year;

 

 

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1        (5) establish requirements for the availability of
2    interpretation and translation services;
3        (6) set standards for adequate staffing of bilingual
4    employees at State agencies and other covered entities,
5    including a methodology for monitoring implementation and
6    updating the State Services Assurance Act and the
7    Bilingual Employment Plan, based on current Language Needs
8    Use Assessment Report conducted under Section 30 of this
9    Act;
10        (7) incorporate language equity compliance provisions
11    in State contracts with vendors, grantees and purchase of
12    care entities;
13        (8) ensure that whenever an emergency, weather, health
14    or other crisis situation has been declared, the State's
15    Limited English Person population is adequately notified
16    of the emergency, information and any actions required,
17    and has equitable access to emergency resources; and
18        (9) create the Division of Language Equity and Access
19    within the Governor's Office of New Americans to monitor
20    and provide expertise to ensure the implementation of this
21    Act.
 
22    Section 20. Division of Language Equity and Access. The
23Division of Language Equity and Access is hereby created
24within the Governor's Office of New Americans to lead
25statewide efforts in the implementation of the State's

 

 

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1language equity and access policy for limited English
2proficient persons and to ensure meaningful access to
3information, services, programs, and activities offered by
4State agencies and other covered entities, including
5departments, offices, commissions, boards, or other agencies,
6for limited English proficient persons. DLEA shall have a
7full-time director who is bilingual and has experience in
8serving immigrant populations. The role of DLEA is to advance
9and monitor implementation of and compliance with this Act by:
10        (1) providing oversight, central coordination, and
11    technical assistance to State agencies and covered
12    entities in the implementation of language access
13    requirements under this Act or under any other law,
14    regulation, or guidance related to language access;
15        (2) reviewing and monitoring each State agency's
16    language access plan for compliance with this Act;
17        (3) consulting with language access coordinators and
18    State agency directors or their equivalent;
19        (4) creating, distributing, and making available to
20    State agencies multilingual signage in the more frequently
21    encountered languages in the State, and other languages as
22    needed, informing individuals of the individual's right to
23    free interpretation services and how to request language
24    services;
25        (5) creating the complaint and investigation process
26    for limited English proficient persons to report language

 

 

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1    equity and access violations;
2        (6) developing recommendations for a statewide policy
3    and draft a corresponding plan for the utilization of
4    interpreters and translators, including standards for
5    certification and qualifications;
6        (7) developing multilingual websites with information
7    about DLEA and information about relevant policies,
8    standards, plans, and complaint processes;
9        (8) preparing an annual compliance report to be
10    submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly; and
11        (9) addressing other issues as necessary to ensure
12    equity and meaningful participation for persons with
13    limited English proficiency.
14    The DLEA shall adopt administrative rules as necessary to
15implement and administer this Act.
 
16    Section 25. Statewide language use needs assessment. The
17DLEA shall work with State agencies and covered entities and
18shall use other available State resources, such as the Office
19of New Americans, the Office of Equity, and the Department of
20Human Services Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Services, to
21ensure the State compiles available U.S. Census data on
22languages used across the State, including the identification
23of geographic patterns and trend data. The Language Use and
24Needs Report shall be compiled at least every 10 years in
25conjunction with the decennial federal Census but may be

 

 

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1updated periodically using other Census data reports.
2    This Report will be made available to State agencies and
3covered entities for the development of their language access
4plans and overall improvement in service provision to limited
5English proficient persons.
 
6    Section 30. Language access plans.
7    (a) Each State agency and all covered entities shall take
8reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to services,
9programs, and activities by limited English proficient
10persons. Therefore, each State agency and covered entity shall
11prepare a language access plan, which will describe the
12population of limited English proficient persons it serves,
13the policy and programmatic actions it will implement, and the
14metrics it will use to measure compliance with this Act.
15    (b) Each State agency and covered entity shall designate a
16language access coordinator who is responsible for the
17language access plan and plan activities.
18    (c) The adequacy of State agencies and covered entities'
19plans are determined by the totality of the circumstances,
20including the following 4 factors listed by federal guidance.
21Therefore, each language access plan must begin with a
22language needs assessment that includes the following
23information:
24        (1) the number or proportion of limited English
25    proficient persons who are served or encountered in the

 

 

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1    eligible service population of the State agency or covered
2    entity;
3        (2) the frequency with which limited English
4    proficient persons come in contact with the services,
5    programs, or activities provided by the State agency or
6    covered entity;
7        (3) the nature and importance of the services,
8    programs, or activities provided by the State agency or
9    covered entity; and
10        (4) the resources available to the State or covered
11    entity and the costs.
12    (d) Furthermore, each State agency and covered entity
13shall describe in its plans how it will provide all of the
14following:
15        (1) competent, timely translation services to limited
16    English proficient persons who are seeking access to
17    information, services, programs, or activities provided by
18    the State agency or covered entity; and
19        (2) vital document translation services for limited
20    English proficient persons who are seeking access to
21    information, services, programs, or activities provided by
22    the State agency or covered entity, as follows:
23            (A) if there are more than 1,000 limited English
24        proficient persons in the population of persons served
25        by the State agency or covered entity or if limited
26        English proficient persons comprise more than 5% of

 

 

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1        the population of persons served by the State agency
2        or covered entity; or
3            (B) if there are fewer than 50 persons served by
4        the State agency or covered entity that reach the 5%
5        threshold in subsection (a), the State agency or
6        covered entity shall provide written notice in the
7        primary language to the limited English proficient
8        persons of the right to receive competent oral
9        interpretation of those written materials free of
10        cost.
11    (e) The DLEA shall develop a template and mechanism for
12collecting, storing, and analyzing language access plans.
13    (f) Following the first submitted plan, language access
14plans shall include an assessment of performance metrics for
15the previous year.
16    (g) Following completion of the assessment, the DLEA shall
17provide guidance and feedback to each State agency and covered
18entity, including any corrective action recommendations to
19ensure compliance with the language access plans.
20    (h) Language access plans and evaluations shall be made
21publicly accessible.
22    (i) The DLEA shall develop a rating framework for
23evaluation of language access plans and implementation.
 
24    Section 35. Compliance and accountability.
25    (a) By January 1, 2026, and every January 1 thereafter,

 

 

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1the DLEA shall submit a Language Equity and Access Compliance
2Report to the General Assembly. The Compliance Report shall be
3based on information collected during the preceding fiscal
4year and shall, at minimum, include:
5        (1) key performance metrics for the previous year;
6        (2) the following information for each State agency
7    and covered entity:
8            (A) the language access plan, including language
9        access services offered;
10            (B) the number and percentage of people who are
11        limited English proficient persons who use the
12        services of the State agency or covered entity, listed
13        by language other than English;
14            (C) a roster of bilingual employees, their titles,
15        office locations, the languages other than English
16        that the persons speak, and whether or not the
17        employees are certified as bilingual in that language;
18            (D) the name and contact information of the
19        language access coordinator for each State agency and
20        covered entity;
21            (E) a description of any use of telephone-based
22        interpretation services, including the number of times
23        telephone-based interpretation services were used, the
24        languages for which they were used, and the number of
25        times bilingual employees provided in-person
26        interpretation services;

 

 

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1            (F) a description of the:
2                (i) telephone requests for translation or
3            interpretation services;
4                (ii) in-person requests for translation or
5            interpretation services; and
6                (iii) electronic requests for translation or
7            interpretations services;
8            (G) public notices of the availability of
9        translation or interpretation services upon request;
10            (H) an ongoing employee development and training
11        strategy to maintain well-trained bilingual employees
12        and general staff;
13            (I) a list and description of all written
14        translated materials provided, including the total
15        number, languages, and services requested; and
16            (J) a list and description of all complaints
17        received, including information on the number of
18        complaints, the method received, the breakdown of
19        affected languages, the written response to each
20        complaint, and the time frame within which each
21        complaint was handled.
22    (b) State agencies shall respond to language access
23complaints, in writing, within 30 days after their receipt.
24All complaints and responses shall be recorded in each
25agency's respective annual report.
26    (c) The DLEA may investigate potential violations of this

 

 

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1Act if not resolved by the State agency or covered entity. The
2DLEA may attempt to resolve noncompliance with this Act by any
3State agency or covered party through informal processes,
4including mediation and conference and conciliation.
5    (d) If, after an investigation and attempt to resolve an
6incidence of Department noncompliance, the DLEA is unable to
7resolve the matter, the DLEA may transmit a written finding of
8noncompliance, specifying the nature of the noncompliance and
9the recommended corrective measures, to the Governor, and it
10may transmit the same information in the annual compliance
11report to the General Assembly.
 
12    Section 40. Administrative support. The Governor's Office
13shall provide administrative and other support to the Division
14of Language Equity and Access.
 
15    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on July
161, 2025.