Advocates tell joint committee to require language access across state agencies

Dozens of advocates, legal-aid groups and municipal officials told the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Wednesday that the Commonwealth must require state agencies to provide routine language access services, including interpretation and translated vital documents.

The testimony focused on House bill H.3384 and Senate bill S.2125, “An Act relative to language access and inclusion,” which would require a set of public-facing state agencies to create language access plans, hire full-time coordinators, translate vital documents and form a community advisory board. Leila Ramachandran, policy director for the Massachusetts Asian American and Pacific Islander Commission, told the committee that about 30 percent of Massachusetts households speak a language other than English and that the commission supports a statutory approach to ensure…