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Committee advances bill to let ASL court interpreters join collective bargaining

California State Assembly Judiciary Committee · March 17, 2026
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Summary

AB 19 16 (Li) would update the statutory definition of certified court interpreters to include American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters so they may participate in existing collective bargaining; committee moved the bill to appropriations after testimony highlighting acute ASL interpreter shortages and access gaps.

Assemblymember Li introduced AB 19 16 to allow American Sign Language interpreters to participate in the same collective-bargaining framework that governs certified spoken-language court interpreters. Li said the change recognizes ASL and addresses recruitment and representation gaps in the trial-court interpreter workforce.

Carmen Ramos, president of the California Federation of…

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