Amd §202-a, Exec L; add Art 9 Title 13 §2988, Pub Auth L; add Art 24-A §950, County L
Requires certain documents and forms to be provided in the twelve most common non-English languages spoken by limited English proficient immigrants of five years or less according to the American community survey, as published by the United States census bureau.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4875
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 6, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DE LOS SANTOS, KELLES, SHIMSKY, CRUZ, COLTON,
ALVAREZ, EPSTEIN, STIRPE, REYES, SAYEGH, FORREST, TAYLOR, WALKER,
GLICK, GIBBS, ROZIC, JACOBSON, LEVENBERG, RAMOS, CUNNINGHAM, SIMON,
RAGA, BURDICK, CLARK, HEVESI, CHANG, GIGLIO, DINOWITZ, MAMDANI,
LAVINE, SEPTIMO, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, SHRESTHA, LEE, SEAWRIGHT, ROSENTHAL,
MEEKS, ZACCARO, DAVILA, OTIS, RIVERA, TAPIA, BICHOTTE HERMELYN,
R. CARROLL, ANDERSON, MITAYNES, SIMONE, KIM, BRONSON -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, the public authorities law and the
county law, in relation to enacting the "language access expansion
act" and requiring certain documents and forms to be provided in
multiple languages
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "language access expansion act".
3 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 202-a of the executive law, as added by
4 section 1 of part GG of chapter 56 of the laws of 2022, is amended to
5 read as follows:
6 1. (a) Each state agency that provides direct public services in New
7 York state shall translate all vital documents relevant to services
8 offered by the agency, including essential public documents such as
9 forms and instructions provided to or completed by program beneficiaries
10 or participants, into at least the twelve most common non-English
11 languages spoken by limited-English proficient individuals in the state,
12 [based on the data in the most recent American Community Survey
13 published by United States Census Bureau. Agencies subject to this
14 section, in their discretion, may offer up to four additional languages
15 beyond the twelve most common languages. Such additional languages
16 shall be decided by the state agency in consultation with the office of
17 general services and approved by the office of general services based on
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01261-03-5
A. 4875 2
1 the number of limited-English proficient immigrants of five years or
2 less in New York state in need of language translation services accord-
3 ing to the American Community Survey, including the growth of recent
4 arrival populations in the geographic regions in which the agency's
5 services are offered, the population of limited-English proficient indi-
6 viduals served by the agency, feedback from impacted community or advo-
7 cacy groups, and any other relevant data published by the United States
8 Census Bureau] including the most common non-English languages spoken by
9 limited English proficient individuals who have arrived in the state
10 within the last five years, based on aggregate data from the most recent
11 decennial census, American community survey, and any additional sources
12 that capture trends in language use and limited-English proficiency
13 within immigrant and refugee populations.
14 (b) Each agency shall additionally make such translations available
15 within each region of the state, as established by article eleven of the
16 economic development law, in the three most common non-English languages
17 which are spoken in that region and are not already included among the
18 twelve languages specified in paragraph (a) of this subdivision. Such
19 additional languages shall be decided by the state agency in consulta-
20 tion with the office of general services and approved by the office of
21 general services based on the number of limited-English proficient immi-
22 grants who have arrived in New York state within the last five years,
23 according to the United States census bureau and American community
24 survey, including the growth of recent arrival populations in the
25 geographic regions in which the agency's services are offered, the popu-
26 lation of limited-English proficient individuals served by the agency,
27 feedback from impacted community or advocacy groups, and any data
28 collected from the sources listed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
29 (c) The list of most common languages shall be reviewed and updated
30 every two years, based on the most recent data collected by the United
31 States census bureau and American community survey, including but not
32 limited to the data sources listed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
33 The office of language access, in consultation with the office of gener-
34 al services, shall annually collect and publish data on the most common
35 non-English languages most frequently served by public agencies.
36 (d) The office of language access shall develop and distribute multi-
37 lingual notices on or before December thirty-first, two thousand twen-
38 ty-five, to inform asylum seekers, refugees, and public organizations,
39 including community-based organizations and faith-based organizations,
40 and other community stakeholders in the state of an individual's right
41 to request an interpreter in their primary language and right to have
42 essential documents and information translated in their primary language
43 when engaging with public agencies, in accordance with existing state
44 and federal language access requirements.
45 (e) The state shall allocate annual funding to support translation,
46 interpretation, and training resources necessary.
47 (f) Each agency shall provide competent and timely interpretation
48 services to individuals in their primary or preferred language with
49 respect to the provisions of services and benefits. This includes both
50 in-office services, and services provided outside of the department
51 office. Competent interpretation shall mean spoken or signed, real-time
52 communication in which the qualified human interpreter is fluent in both
53 the source and target language and is trained as an interpreter.
54 § 3. Subparagraphs (viii) and (ix) of paragraph (c) of subdivision 3
55 of section 202-a of the executive law, as added by section 1 of part GG
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1 of chapter 56 of the laws of 2022, are amended and three new subpara-
2 graphs (x), (xi) and (xii) are added to read as follows:
3 (viii) an explanation as to how the agency determined it would provide
4 any additional language beyond the top twelve languages required by this
5 section; [and]
6 (ix) the identity of the agency's language access coordinator[.];
7 (x) accommodations for communication access shall be available upon
8 request including American sign language interpretation via an on-site
9 interpreter, video remote interpreter, or communication access real-time
10 translation for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have hear-
11 ing loss;
12 (xi) a phone number or email address by which the public can lodge
13 complaints against the agency for noncompliance, such complaints shall
14 be kept for a minimum of two years; and
15 (xii) a process to make public the number of complaints during a
16 twelve month period against noncompliance and resolution to such
17 complaints.
18 § 4. Article 9 of the public authorities law is amended by adding a
19 new title 13 to read as follows:
20 TITLE 13
21 LANGUAGE ACCESS
22 Section 2988. Language access.
23 § 2988. Language access. 1. For the purposes of this section, "covered
24 state authorities" shall mean state authorities that are determined by
25 the office of language access to provide direct public-facing services
26 that have an impact on a significant amount of residents of New York.
27 Covered state authorities shall translate vital documents, including
28 essential public documents such as forms and instructions provided to or
29 completed by program beneficiaries or participants. The translation
30 shall be available in the twelve most common non-English languages
31 spoken by limited English proficient immigrants in the state who arrived
32 within the last five years according to the American community survey,
33 as published by the United States census bureau.
34 2. Covered state authorities shall make translations available in
35 correspondence with the region of the state such covered state authori-
36 ties serve, in at least the three most common non-English languages
37 which are spoken in that region by limited English proficient immigrants
38 who arrived within the last five years based on aggregate data from the
39 most recent decennial census, American community survey, and any addi-
40 tional sources that capture trends in language and limited-English
41 proficiency within immigrant and refugee populations.
42 3. The list of most common languages shall be updated no less than
43 every two years from the effective date of this section, based on the
44 most recent American community survey, as published by the United States
45 census bureau.
46 4. Each covered state authority shall provide interpretation services
47 between the authority and an individual in such individual's primary
48 language, including American sign language, with respect to the
49 provision of services or benefits. This includes both in-office
50 services, and services provided outside of the authority office.
51 5. Within ninety days of the effective date of this section, covered
52 state authorities shall publish a language access plan which reflects
53 how the authority will comply with the language access requirements
54 pursuant to this section, and shall set forth, at a minimum:
55 a. core communication principles with respect to people in the limited
56 English proficient community;
A. 4875 4
1 b. when and by what means the authority will provide or is already
2 providing language access services;
3 c. the titles of all available translated documents and the languages
4 into which they have been translated;
5 d. the number of public contact positions in the authority and the
6 number of bilingual employees in public contact positions including the
7 languages they speak;
8 e. a training plan for employees which includes, at a minimum, annual
9 training on the language access policies of the authority and how to
10 provide language assistance services;
11 f. a plan of how the authority intends to notify the population of
12 offered language assistance services;
13 g. a language access coordinator at the authority, who shall be
14 publicly identified;
15 h. accommodations for communication access shall be available upon
16 request including American sign language interpretation via an on-site
17 interpreter, video remote interpreter, or communication access real-time
18 translation for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have hear-
19 ing loss;
20 i. a phone number or email address by which the public can lodge
21 complaints against the agency for noncompliance. Such complaints shall
22 be kept for a minimum of two years; and
23 j. make public the number of complaints during a twelve-month period
24 against noncompliance and resolutions to such complaints.
25 § 5. The county law is amended by adding a new article 24-A to read as
26 follows:
27 ARTICLE 24-A
28 LANGUAGE ACCESS
29 Section 950. Language access.
30 § 950. Language access. 1. Every county of New York state shall trans-
31 late vital documents, including essential public documents such as forms
32 and instructions provided to or completed by program beneficiaries or
33 participants. Each such county shall make such translations available in
34 correspondence with the region.
35 (a) For counties with a limited English proficient population that is
36 0.5 percent or less than of such county's total population, translations
37 shall be available in at least the two most common non-English languages
38 spoken in that region including the most common non-English languages
39 spoken by limited English proficient individuals who have arrived in
40 such county within the last five years and are not already included in
41 the statewide list of most common non-English languages.
42 (b) For counties with a limited English proficiency population that is
43 more than 0.5 percent of such county's total population, translations
44 shall be available in at least the three most common non-English
45 languages spoken in that region including languages spoken by limited
46 English proficient individuals who have arrived in such county within
47 the last five years and are not already included in the statewide list
48 of most common non-English languages.
49 (c) Determination of limited English proficient population and the
50 most common non-English languages spoken by limited English proficient
51 individuals shall be based on aggregate data from the most recent decen-
52 nial census, American community survey, and any additional sources that
53 capture trends in language use and limited English proficiency within
54 immigrant and refugee populations.
55 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section,
56 a county may add additional languages as necessary to accommodate local
A. 4875 5
1 variances from statewide languages, provided such languages are added
2 after public notice and opportunity to comment.
3 3. The list of most common languages shall be updated no less than
4 every two years from the effective date of this section, based on the
5 most recent American community survey, as published by the United States
6 census bureau, and any additional languages such county shall choose to
7 select.
8 4. Each such county shall provide interpretation services between the
9 entity and an individual in such individual's primary language with
10 respect to the provision of services or benefits.
11 5. Within ninety days of the effective date of this section, each such
12 county shall publish a language access plan which reflects how the coun-
13 ty will comply with the language access requirements pursuant to this
14 section, and shall set forth, at a minimum:
15 (a) core communication principles with respect to people in the limit-
16 ed English proficient community;
17 (b) when and by what means the county shall provide or is already
18 providing language access services;
19 (c) the titles of all available translated documents and the languages
20 into which they have been translated;
21 (d) the number of public contact positions in the county and the
22 number of bilingual employees in public contact positions including the
23 languages they speak;
24 (e) a training plan for employees of the county, which includes, at a
25 minimum, annual training on the language access policies of the county
26 and how to provide language assistance services;
27 (f) a plan of how the county intends to notify the population of
28 offered language assistance services;
29 (g) a language access coordinator employed by the county, who shall be
30 publicly identified;
31 (h) accommodations for communication access shall be available upon
32 request including American sign language interpretation via an on-site
33 interpreter, video remote interpreter, or communication access real-time
34 translation for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have hear-
35 ing loss;
36 (i) a phone number or email address by which the public can lodge
37 complaints against the county for noncompliance. Such complaints shall
38 be kept for a minimum of two years; and
39 (j) make public the number of complaints during a twelve-month period
40 against noncompliance and resolutions to such complaints.
41 § 6. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
42 law.
