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House committee advances study to assess qualifications and protections for ASL interpreters
Summary
The Health and Human Services Committee voted 9–4 to send House Bill 11‑09 to the Finance Committee. The bill commissions a third‑party study of sign language interpreter qualifications and consumer protections for deaf, hard‑of‑hearing and deaf‑blind Coloradans, funded by a small fee adjustment to existing telephone relay surcharges.
Representative Stewart and co‑prime Representative Joseph told the committee that House Bill 11‑09 would fund a targeted, time‑limited study into the state’s sign language interpretation system and possible consumer protections.
The study, the sponsors said, would be conducted by a contracted third‑party researcher and would include statewide interviews, comparative research on licensure models in Massachusetts, Maryland and Michigan, and consideration of recognizing Utah’s interpreter certification. "This bill is about American Sign Language," Stewart said, adding that the measure "seeks to ensure that sign language interpreters are qualified for their position so we can ensure that accurate information is being translated to the community." (Representative Stewart)
Advocates who testified described repeated examples of inaccurate or culturally inappropriate interpretation. Jack Johnson of Disability Law Colorado said the harms are often underreported and can be life threatening: "If you're at the doctor's office and the doctor tells you to take one pill every four days, and that gets interpreted as four pills every one day, that is a life or death situation." Multiple witnesses from the nonprofit Dove and students training as interpreters described inconsistent availability of qualified interpreters in rural areas and the need for registries and culturally competent interviewing in any study.
Sponsors said the study would be paid from existing fee revenue in the division for the deaf, hard of hearing and deaf‑blind — specifically the telephone relay and disability access surcharge — and would not require a general fund appropriation. They offered and the committee adopted an amendment broadening who may be interviewed and adding language‑service companies and a cultural competency requirement for those conducting interviews.
Representative Johnson and others pressed sponsors on whether the study would collect quantitative evidence of harm in addition to interviews; sponsors and supporters said quantitative data are limited in this community and that qualitative, lived‑experience reporting is an essential part of the evidence base the bill seeks to assemble.
The committee adopted the amendment and then, on a roll call, moved the bill to the Finance Committee by a 9–4 vote. The record shows the motion to send HB 11‑09 to Finance was moved by Representative Stewart and seconded by Representative Frey; the tally recorded nine yes votes and four no votes.
The Finance Committee will receive the bill next, where sponsors said they are open to further refinement of the study’s scope and methods.
