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Kansas deaf and hard-of-hearing commission appeals to restore $455,000 for statewide interpreter coordination
Summary
The Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and advocates told the committee that a proposed $455,000 Communication Access Fund was left out of the governor's recommendation; witnesses said coordinated funding would make interpreter access more timely and cost-effective across rural Kansas and courts.
Robert Cooper, executive director of the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (KCDHH), appealed to the Committee on Social Services Budget to restore a $455,000 request for a Communication Access Fund that the governor's budget excluded.
Cooper said the fund would ensure timely, effective communication access for deaf and hard-of-hearing Kansans across state agencies and courts. "This communication access is not an option. It's a mandate," Cooper said, noting that Kansas established a precedent for communication access in 1982 and that federal law, including the…
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