Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Language Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Chamorro-Carolinian language office seeks fee authority, fills administrative vacancy
Summary
Committee members were told the Chamorro-Carolinian Language Policy Commission has restructured an admin officer position, placed translation services on hold while it promulgates fees and will forward legislation to create a revolving special account for translation fees.
The Chamorro-Carolinian Language Policy Commission told the House Ways and Means committee on July 17 that it has restructured and filled an administrative officer position, is finalizing a fee schedule for translation and plans to forward legislation to create a revolving account to retain collected fees.
Commission staff said translation requests have been placed on hold pending promulgation of fees. The commission described a range of requests — translations of regulations, proclamations and court interpreter assignments — and said fees will vary by category. Committee members asked the department and commission to prepare a House bill that would allow the commission to begin collecting and retaining fees, and the commission agreed to forward its proposed legislation.
Why it matters: The language commission provides translation and interpretation services that can affect access to government communications and court proceedings for Chamorro and Carolinian speakers. Creating a special revolving account would permit the commission to retain fees locally and use them for operations.
The committee and commission also discussed office housing and utility arrangements; the commission said it is currently housed in the Office of Aging building and does not pay a separate utility charge there. No formal vote took place during the hearing; members asked the commission to submit the bill language for inclusion in budget deliberations if appropriate.
