February 19, 2021 Legislative Update

Whew. A lot has happened since our last legislative update. In this update, we will share where you can find information on MNCDHH’s website, what the priorities are in both the House and the Senate, and bill numbers for the bills MNCDHH is either supporting or watching. At this time, we are not opposing any bill.

Legislative information on MNCDHH’s website

MNCDHH’s legislative page has four sections. This is where you can find our legislative page:

The first section is called “Legislative Agenda.” This is MNCDHH’s official agenda and will show which bills we are leading, supporting, or opposing. When available, bill numbers and chief authors will also be posted. We also include a brief description about each bill.

The second section is called “Legislative Recaps.” This is where MNCDHH posts links to our legislative updates. You can also find the same updates by vising our News page and clicking on the “legislation” tag.

The third section is called “Suggest Legislation.” This is a helpful template to use to suggest ideas for future legislation. Most people prefer to email or call with ideas but this tool is available for you.

The fourth section is new and is called “Legislative Tracker.” This is where we list any bills with bill numbers in either the House or Senate that might impact people who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing. It will include bills that are a part of our agenda and bills that are not a part of our agenda.

House and Senate priorities

The pandemic this year has impacted the Legislature. Legislators and their staff have to navigate remote sessions. Most hearings are informational hearings. There are partisan differences and with everything taking place remotely, it creates communication challenges.

Everyone is focused on COVID-19 but in different ways.

The House is more focused on the COVID-19 response and increasing revenue spending.

The Senate is more focused on the deficit, economic recovery, and do not want new taxes.

This is a challenging, but not impossible, year to pass new legislation, especially legislation that will cost money.

Bill numbers and updates

HF1134 / SF1136 Closed-caption television required

MNCDHH’s board voted to support Rep. Daniel’s bill for closed-captioned television required, contingent on changes in the bill language. MNCDHH is happy to report that Rep. Daniels did modify the language. The House File number is HF1134. The Senate File number is SF1136.

HF0827 / SF1046 Board of Sign Language Interpreters and Transliterators created, licensure required, and rulemaking authorized

MNCDHH’s board decided not to vote on if we should support this bill as it was clear that this was legislation drafted without including the stakeholders who would be impacted by it. As of February 19, 2021, the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens (MADC) and the Minnesota Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (MRID) have separately and publicly announced that they do not support this bill. The House File is HF0827 and the authors are Rep. Daniels, Rep. Koegel, and Rep. Theis. The Senate File number is SF1046 and the authors are Senator Hoffman and Senator Rarick.

HF0828 / SF1134 Child neglect definition expansion to include language acquisition

MNCDHH’s board decided not to vote on this as the board has several questions about how this would work. We will continue to work with Rep. Daniels on this. Right now this bill has both a House File and Senate File number. The House File number is HF0828 and the authors are Rep. Daniels and Rep. Koegel. The Senate File number is SF1134 and the authors are Senator Hoffman and Senator Rarick.

SF1135 Deaf and hard-of-hearing-students and oral/aural deaf education licensure requirements modification

MNCDHH’s board decided not to vote on this as the board has several questions about how this would work. As of February 19, 2021, the bill has a Senate File but does not yet have a House File. The number is SF1135 and the authors are Senator Hoffman and Senator Rarick.

Ongoing legislative updates

MNCDHH will continue to share legislative updates during this session. Please subscribe to our newsletters or follow our website and social media to stay up to date. Thank you!