Bill Text: NY A04875 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires certain documents and forms to be provided in the twelve most common non-English languages spoken by limited English proficient immigrants of five years or less according to the American community survey, as published by the United States census bureau.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 47-2)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-06 - referred to governmental operations [A04875 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A04875-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4875

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 6, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. DE LOS SANTOS, KELLES, SHIMSKY, CRUZ, COLTON,
          ALVAREZ, EPSTEIN, STIRPE,  REYES,  SAYEGH,  FORREST,  TAYLOR,  WALKER,
          GLICK,  GIBBS,  ROZIC,  JACOBSON, LEVENBERG, RAMOS, CUNNINGHAM, SIMON,
          RAGA,  BURDICK,  CLARK,  HEVESI,  CHANG,  GIGLIO,  DINOWITZ,  MAMDANI,
          LAVINE,  SEPTIMO, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, SHRESTHA, LEE, SEAWRIGHT, ROSENTHAL,
          MEEKS,  ZACCARO,  DAVILA,  OTIS,  RIVERA,  TAPIA,   BICHOTTE HERMELYN,
          R. CARROLL,  ANDERSON, MITAYNES, SIMONE, KIM, BRONSON -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations

        AN ACT to amend the executive law, the public authorities  law  and  the
          county  law,  in  relation  to enacting the "language access expansion
          act" and requiring certain documents  and  forms  to  be  provided  in
          multiple languages

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
     2  the "language access expansion act".
     3    §  2. Subdivision 1 of section 202-a of the executive law, as added by
     4  section 1 of part GG of chapter 56 of the laws of 2022,  is  amended  to
     5  read as follows:
     6    1.  (a)  Each state agency that provides direct public services in New
     7  York state shall translate all  vital  documents  relevant  to  services
     8  offered  by  the  agency,  including  essential public documents such as
     9  forms and instructions provided to or completed by program beneficiaries
    10  or participants, into  at  least  the  twelve  most  common  non-English
    11  languages spoken by limited-English proficient individuals in the state,
    12  [based  on  the  data  in  the  most  recent  American  Community Survey
    13  published by United States  Census  Bureau.  Agencies  subject  to  this
    14  section,  in their discretion, may offer up to four additional languages
    15  beyond the twelve most common  languages.    Such  additional  languages
    16  shall  be decided by the state agency in consultation with the office of
    17  general services and approved by the office of general services based on

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01261-03-5
        A. 4875                             2

     1  the number of limited-English proficient immigrants  of  five  years  or
     2  less  in New York state in need of language translation services accord-
     3  ing to the American Community Survey, including  the  growth  of  recent
     4  arrival  populations  in  the  geographic  regions in which the agency's
     5  services are offered, the population of limited-English proficient indi-
     6  viduals served by the agency, feedback from impacted community or  advo-
     7  cacy  groups, and any other relevant data published by the United States
     8  Census Bureau] including the most common non-English languages spoken by
     9  limited English proficient individuals who have  arrived  in  the  state
    10  within the last five years, based on aggregate data from the most recent
    11  decennial  census, American community survey, and any additional sources
    12  that capture trends in  language  use  and  limited-English  proficiency
    13  within immigrant and refugee populations.
    14    (b)  Each  agency  shall additionally make such translations available
    15  within each region of the state, as established by article eleven of the
    16  economic development law, in the three most common non-English languages
    17  which are spoken in that region and are not already included  among  the
    18  twelve  languages  specified  in paragraph (a) of this subdivision. Such
    19  additional languages shall be decided by the state agency  in  consulta-
    20  tion  with  the office of general services and approved by the office of
    21  general services based on the number of limited-English proficient immi-
    22  grants who have arrived in New York state within the  last  five  years,
    23  according  to  the  United  States  census bureau and American community
    24  survey, including the  growth  of  recent  arrival  populations  in  the
    25  geographic regions in which the agency's services are offered, the popu-
    26  lation  of  limited-English proficient individuals served by the agency,
    27  feedback from impacted  community  or  advocacy  groups,  and  any  data
    28  collected from the sources listed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
    29    (c)  The  list  of most common languages shall be reviewed and updated
    30  every two years, based on the most recent  data collected by the  United
    31  States  census  bureau  and American community survey, including but not
    32  limited to the data sources listed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
    33  The office of language access, in consultation with the office of gener-
    34  al services, shall annually collect and publish data on the most  common
    35  non-English languages most frequently served by public agencies.
    36    (d)  The office of language access shall develop and distribute multi-
    37  lingual notices on or before December thirty-first, two  thousand  twen-
    38  ty-five,  to  inform asylum seekers, refugees, and public organizations,
    39  including community-based organizations and  faith-based  organizations,
    40  and  other  community stakeholders in the state of an individual's right
    41  to request an interpreter in their primary language and  right  to  have
    42  essential documents and information translated in their primary language
    43  when  engaging  with  public agencies, in accordance with existing state
    44  and federal language access requirements.
    45    (e) The state shall allocate annual funding  to  support  translation,
    46  interpretation, and training resources necessary.
    47    (f)  Each  agency  shall   provide competent and timely interpretation
    48  services to individuals in their  primary  or  preferred  language  with
    49  respect  to  the provisions of services and benefits. This includes both
    50  in-office services, and services  provided  outside  of  the  department
    51  office.  Competent interpretation shall mean spoken or signed, real-time
    52  communication in which the qualified human interpreter is fluent in both
    53  the source and target language and is trained as an interpreter.
    54    § 3. Subparagraphs (viii) and (ix) of paragraph (c) of  subdivision  3
    55  of  section 202-a of the executive law, as added by section 1 of part GG
        A. 4875                             3

     1  of chapter 56 of the laws of 2022, are amended and  three  new  subpara-
     2  graphs (x), (xi) and (xii) are added to read as follows:
     3    (viii) an explanation as to how the agency determined it would provide
     4  any additional language beyond the top twelve languages required by this
     5  section; [and]
     6    (ix) the identity of the agency's language access coordinator[.];
     7    (x)    accommodations for communication access shall be available upon
     8  request including American sign language interpretation via  an  on-site
     9  interpreter, video remote interpreter, or communication access real-time
    10  translation  for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have hear-
    11  ing loss;
    12    (xi) a phone number or email address by which  the  public  can  lodge
    13  complaints  against  the agency for noncompliance, such complaints shall
    14  be kept for a minimum of two years; and
    15    (xii) a process to make public  the  number  of  complaints  during  a
    16  twelve  month  period  against  noncompliance  and  resolution  to  such
    17  complaints.
    18    § 4. Article 9 of the public authorities law is amended  by  adding  a
    19  new title 13 to read as follows:
    20                                  TITLE 13
    21                               LANGUAGE ACCESS
    22  Section 2988. Language access.
    23    § 2988. Language access. 1. For the purposes of this section, "covered
    24  state  authorities"  shall mean state authorities that are determined by
    25  the office of language access to provide direct  public-facing  services
    26  that  have  an  impact on a significant amount of residents of New York.
    27  Covered state authorities shall  translate  vital  documents,  including
    28  essential public documents such as forms and instructions provided to or
    29  completed  by  program  beneficiaries  or  participants. The translation
    30  shall be available in  the  twelve  most  common  non-English  languages
    31  spoken by limited English proficient immigrants in the state who arrived
    32  within  the  last five years according to the American community survey,
    33  as published by the United States census bureau.
    34    2. Covered state authorities  shall  make  translations  available  in
    35  correspondence  with the region of the state such covered state authori-
    36  ties serve, in at least the  three  most  common  non-English  languages
    37  which are spoken in that region by limited English proficient immigrants
    38  who  arrived within the last five years based on aggregate data from the
    39  most recent decennial census, American community survey, and  any  addi-
    40  tional  sources  that  capture  trends  in  language and limited-English
    41  proficiency within immigrant and refugee populations.
    42    3. The list of most common languages shall be  updated  no  less  than
    43  every  two  years  from the effective date of this section, based on the
    44  most recent American community survey, as published by the United States
    45  census bureau.
    46    4. Each covered state authority shall provide interpretation  services
    47  between  the  authority  and  an individual in such individual's primary
    48  language,  including  American  sign  language,  with  respect  to   the
    49  provision  of  services  or  benefits.    This  includes  both in-office
    50  services, and services provided outside of the authority office.
    51    5. Within ninety days of the effective date of this  section,  covered
    52  state  authorities  shall  publish a language access plan which reflects
    53  how the authority will comply  with  the  language  access  requirements
    54  pursuant to this section, and shall set forth, at a minimum:
    55    a. core communication principles with respect to people in the limited
    56  English proficient community;
        A. 4875                             4

     1    b.  when  and  by  what means the authority will provide or is already
     2  providing language access services;
     3    c.  the titles of all available translated documents and the languages
     4  into which they have been translated;
     5    d. the number of public contact positions in  the  authority  and  the
     6  number  of bilingual employees in public contact positions including the
     7  languages they speak;
     8    e. a training plan for employees which includes, at a minimum,  annual
     9  training  on  the  language  access policies of the authority and how to
    10  provide language assistance services;
    11    f. a plan of how the authority intends to  notify  the  population  of
    12  offered language assistance services;
    13    g.  a  language  access  coordinator  at  the  authority, who shall be
    14  publicly identified;
    15    h. accommodations for communication access  shall  be  available  upon
    16  request  including  American sign language interpretation via an on-site
    17  interpreter, video remote interpreter, or communication access real-time
    18  translation for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have  hear-
    19  ing loss;
    20    i.  a  phone  number  or  email  address by which the public can lodge
    21  complaints against the agency for noncompliance. Such  complaints  shall
    22  be kept for a minimum of two years; and
    23    j.  make  public the number of complaints during a twelve-month period
    24  against noncompliance and resolutions to such complaints.
    25    § 5. The county law is amended by adding a new article 24-A to read as
    26  follows:
    27                                ARTICLE 24-A
    28                               LANGUAGE ACCESS
    29  Section 950. Language access.
    30    § 950. Language access. 1. Every county of New York state shall trans-
    31  late vital documents, including essential public documents such as forms
    32  and instructions provided to or completed by  program  beneficiaries  or
    33  participants. Each such county shall make such translations available in
    34  correspondence with the region.
    35    (a)  For counties with a limited English proficient population that is
    36  0.5 percent or less than of such county's total population, translations
    37  shall be available in at least the two most common non-English languages
    38  spoken in that region including the most  common  non-English  languages
    39  spoken  by  limited  English  proficient individuals who have arrived in
    40  such county within the last five years and are not already  included  in
    41  the statewide list of most common non-English languages.
    42    (b) For counties with a limited English proficiency population that is
    43  more  than  0.5  percent of such county's total population, translations
    44  shall be available  in  at  least  the  three  most  common  non-English
    45  languages  spoken  in  that region including languages spoken by limited
    46  English proficient individuals who have arrived in  such  county  within
    47  the  last  five years and are not already included in the statewide list
    48  of most common non-English languages.
    49    (c) Determination of limited English  proficient  population  and  the
    50  most  common  non-English languages spoken by limited English proficient
    51  individuals shall be based on aggregate data from the most recent decen-
    52  nial census, American community survey, and any additional sources  that
    53  capture  trends  in  language use and limited English proficiency within
    54  immigrant and refugee populations.
    55    2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this  section,
    56  a  county may add additional languages as necessary to accommodate local
        A. 4875                             5

     1  variances from statewide languages, provided such  languages  are  added
     2  after public notice and opportunity to comment.
     3    3.  The  list  of  most common languages shall be updated no less than
     4  every two years from the effective date of this section,  based  on  the
     5  most recent American community survey, as published by the United States
     6  census  bureau, and any additional languages such county shall choose to
     7  select.
     8    4. Each such county shall provide interpretation services between  the
     9  entity  and  an  individual  in  such individual's primary language with
    10  respect to the provision of services or benefits.
    11    5. Within ninety days of the effective date of this section, each such
    12  county shall publish a language access plan which reflects how the coun-
    13  ty will comply with the language access requirements  pursuant  to  this
    14  section, and shall set forth, at a minimum:
    15    (a) core communication principles with respect to people in the limit-
    16  ed English proficient community;
    17    (b)  when  and  by  what  means the county shall provide or is already
    18  providing language access services;
    19    (c) the titles of all available translated documents and the languages
    20  into which they have been translated;
    21    (d) the number of public contact  positions  in  the  county  and  the
    22  number  of bilingual employees in public contact positions including the
    23  languages they speak;
    24    (e) a training plan for employees of the county, which includes, at  a
    25  minimum,  annual  training on the language access policies of the county
    26  and how to provide language assistance services;
    27    (f) a plan of how the county  intends  to  notify  the  population  of
    28  offered language assistance services;
    29    (g) a language access coordinator employed by the county, who shall be
    30  publicly identified;
    31    (h)  accommodations  for  communication access shall be available upon
    32  request including American sign language interpretation via  an  on-site
    33  interpreter, video remote interpreter, or communication access real-time
    34  translation  for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have hear-
    35  ing loss;
    36    (i) a  phone  number  or  email  address by which the public can lodge
    37  complaints against the county for noncompliance. Such complaints   shall
    38  be kept for a minimum of two years; and
    39    (j) make  public the number of complaints during a twelve-month period
    40  against noncompliance and resolutions to such complaints.
    41    §  6. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
    42  law.