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Committee approves new K‑12 interpreter license to address workforce shortage
Summary
House Bill 39 creates a separate license for sign language interpreters focused on K‑12 educational settings to address a statewide shortage; sponsors said the license preserves an educational assessment still in use even though it lost national recognition in 2017.
The Senate committee passed House Bill 39, which establishes a third, distinct license for sign language interpreters who work in K‑12 schools, sponsors said, with the aim of addressing a shortage of school interpreters across Kentucky.
Rep. Amy Neighbors and Rep. Derek Lewis presented the bill. Lewis said a testing measure used for educational interpreters stopped being nationally recognized in February 2017 but remained in practice; roughly 550 interpreters statewide would be affected if the credential were removed, he said.
Neighbors said the new license will be a separate credential strictly for educational interpreters and is intended to be less burdensome to obtain than more advanced national certifications while protecting deaf consumers by clarifying skill sets for hiring entities.
Senators pressed for detail about whether the license lowers standards or alters federal requirements. Sponsors said the license is intended as a base level for K‑12 education settings; it does not replace advanced degrees or other credentials. They said the measure keeps the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) standard in place for the educational license so as not to disenfranchise currently employed school interpreters.
Several senators voiced continued reservations and said they may vote differently on the floor; the committee gave the bill a favorable report.
