Bill Text: FL S0110 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Language Requirements for State Agency Websites and Advertisements

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Governmental Oversight and Accountability [S0110 Detail]

Download: Florida-2018-S0110-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2018                                     SB 110
       
       
        
       By Senator Campbell
       
       
       
       
       
       38-00158-18                                            2018110__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to language requirements for state
    3         agency websites and advertisements; creating s.
    4         286.31, F.S.; defining terms; requiring specified
    5         information to be published on state agency websites
    6         in certain languages; providing applicability;
    7         requiring state agencies to disseminate certain
    8         advertisements to the public in languages other than
    9         English through specified media outlets in certain
   10         counties; providing applicability; requiring the
   11         Office of Economic and Demographic Research to publish
   12         certain information on its website; providing an
   13         effective date.
   14  
   15         WHEREAS, the United States Census Bureau estimates that
   16  more than 28 percent of Floridians age 5 or older speak a
   17  language other than English at home, and
   18         WHEREAS, in language-diverse counties of the state, which
   19  include Broward, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry,
   20  Hillsborough, Lee, Monroe, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm
   21  Beach, and St. Lucie, more than 20 percent of residents age 5 or
   22  older speak a language other than English at home, and in Miami
   23  Dade County that figure accounts for more than 72 percent of
   24  residents, and
   25         WHEREAS, 32 percent of Black or African-American persons
   26  residing in Miami-Dade County speak a language other than
   27  English at home, more than 22 percent of them having immigrated
   28  from countries where English is not the native or official
   29  language, and they speak Kreyol or French, and
   30         WHEREAS, more than 3.7 million Floridians speak Spanish, of
   31  which more than 1.6 million speak English less than “very well,”
   32  and in Miami-Dade County, more than 1.5 million speak Spanish,
   33  of which more than 760,000 speak English less than “very well,”
   34  and
   35         WHEREAS, state agency websites as well as advertisements
   36  disseminated to the public through broadcast or cable
   37  television, radio, Internet, newspaper or other print media, and
   38  outdoor advertising are not effective in reaching this
   39  significant number of Floridians who speak English less than
   40  “very well,” NOW, THEREFORE,
   41  
   42  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   43  
   44         Section 1. Section 286.31, Florida Statutes, is created to
   45  read:
   46         286.31 State agency websites and advertisements; language
   47  requirements.—
   48         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   49         (a) “Advertising” means any marketing or promotion of state
   50  programs or services, public health or consumer advisories, or
   51  other public interest communications disseminated to the public
   52  through any form of mass media, including, but not limited to,
   53  broadcast or cable television, radio, Internet, newspaper or
   54  other print media, or outdoor advertising. The term does not
   55  include information provided through the emergency alert system.
   56         (b) “Language-diverse county” means, according to the most
   57  recent census data published by the United States Census Bureau,
   58  a county in which at least 20 percent of its residents age 5 or
   59  older speak a language other than English at home.
   60         (c) “State agency” means any official, officer, commission,
   61  board, authority, council, committee, or department of the
   62  executive branch of state government.
   63         (2) Each state agency website shall be published in English
   64  and include hyperlinks that allow a person to view the published
   65  information in Spanish and Kreyol. This subsection applies only
   66  to a website’s hypertext markup language and does not require a
   67  state agency to publish each linked document, such as laws,
   68  rules, or other publications in portable document format or
   69  other electronic format, in a language other than English.
   70         (3)(a) Each state agency, when advertising to the public in
   71  English in a language-diverse county, shall also provide such
   72  advertising:
   73         1. In each language spoken at home by more than 20 percent
   74  of the county’s residents age 5 or older, according to the most
   75  recent census data published by the United States Census Bureau.
   76         2. Through mass media outlets that disseminate information
   77  predominately in the languages described in subparagraph 1.
   78         3. In a manner that is culturally sensitive.
   79         (b) A statewide advertisement must comply with paragraph
   80  (a) with respect to each language-diverse county.
   81         (c) This subsection does not apply to legal advertisements
   82  required by law.
   83         (4) The Office of Economic and Demographic Research, to
   84  assist state agencies in complying with this section, shall
   85  publish on its website a list of each language-diverse county in
   86  the state based on the most recent census data published by the
   87  United States Census Bureau.
   88         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2018.