Bill Text: NY A03385 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Requires public officers and public bodies to make reasonable efforts to provide qualified interpreters at no charge for the hearing impaired at public meetings and hearings upon written request to the public officer responsible for the siting of such hearing; also requires installation and use of assistive listening devices.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-01-29 - REFERRED TO ETHICS AND INTERNAL GOVERNANCE [A03385 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A03385-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          3385
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 29, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. DICKENS -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Governmental Operations
        AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to the  accessibil-
          ity of public hearings and meetings
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1.  Section 74-a of the public officers law, as added by chap-
     2  ter 368 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:
     3    § 74-a.   Duty of public  officers  regarding  [the  physically  hand-
     4  icapped]  accessibility.  1. It shall be the duty of each public officer
     5  responsible for the scheduling or siting of any public hearing  to  make
     6  reasonable  efforts to ensure (a) that such hearings are held in facili-
     7  ties that permit barrier-free physical access to  the  physically  hand-
     8  icapped,  as  defined in subdivision five of section fifty of the public
     9  buildings law; and (b) that services  of  a  qualified  interpreter,  if
    10  available,  are provided at such public hearings at no charge to persons
    11  who are hearing impaired upon written  request  to  the  public  officer
    12  responsible  for the scheduling or siting of the public hearing within a
    13  reasonable time prior to  such  hearing.  If  interpreter  services  are
    14  requested,  the  public officer responsible for the scheduling or siting
    15  of the public hearing shall engage the services of  a  qualified  inter-
    16  preter,  if available, to interpret the proceeding to, and the testimony
    17  of such persons who are hearing impaired; provided, however,  that  such
    18  action does not impose an undue hardship on the public body holding such
    19  hearing.
    20    2.  (a)  On  and  after  January  first, two thousand twenty-two, such
    21  public officers shall have the power and it shall  be  their  individual
    22  duty  to equip any rooms used for public hearings which accommodate more
    23  than one hundred persons with an assistive listening system for  use  by
    24  the  hearing  impaired;  provided,  however,  that  such action does not
    25  impose an undue hardship on the public body equipping such rooms.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02919-01-9
        A. 3385                             2
     1    (b) For purposes of this subdivision, the  term  "assistive  listening
     2  system" shall mean situational-personal acoustic communication equipment
     3  designed  to  improve  the transmission and auditory reception of sound.
     4  Such system shall include but not be limited  to  the  use  of  standard
     5  amplitude  modulation  (AM),  frequency modulation (FM), audio induction
     6  loop, infrared light sound, or hard wire systems.
     7    § 2. Subdivision (d) of section 103 of the  public  officers  law,  as
     8  added  by  chapter 40 of the laws of 2010, is relettered subdivision (g)
     9  and two new subdivisions (h) and (i) are added to read as follows:
    10    (h) Public bodies shall make  or  cause  to  be  made  all  reasonable
    11  efforts  to  ensure  that services of a qualified interpreter, if avail-
    12  able, are provided at meetings at no charge to persons who  are  hearing
    13  impaired  upon  written  request  to the public body within a reasonable
    14  time prior to such meeting. If interpreter services are  requested,  the
    15  public  body  shall  engage  the services of a qualified interpreter, if
    16  available, to interpret the proceedings of the meeting; provided, howev-
    17  er, that such action does not impose an undue  hardship  on  the  public
    18  body holding such meeting.
    19    (i)  (1)  On  and after January first, two thousand twenty-two, public
    20  bodies shall have the power and it shall be  their  collective  duty  to
    21  equip meeting rooms which accommodate more than one hundred persons with
    22  an assistive listening system for use by the hearing impaired; provided,
    23  however,  that  such  action  does  not  impose an undue hardship on the
    24  public body equipping such rooms.
    25    (2) For purposes  of  this  section,  the  term  "assistive  listening
    26  system" shall mean situational-personal acoustic communication equipment
    27  designed  to  improve  the transmission and auditory reception of sound.
    28  Such system shall include but not be limited  to  the  use  of  standard
    29  amplitude  modulation  (AM),  frequency modulation (FM), audio induction
    30  loop, infrared light sound, or hard wire systems.
    31    § 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2022.